The Kiss That Wrote A Secret
by lol95
Summary: A frighteningly normal half-blood Gryffindor and a Slytherin with a dark past, present and future. Together they create one huge secret. Friends, reputations and their futures are constantly at risk, especially when secret by secret are somehow revealed.
1. Chapter 1

She remembered the time when she first laid eyes on him. The very beginning of first year, on the Hogwarts express where she knew hardly anyone. She had no idea what she was getting herself into, going to a magic school. She had no idea what was in store for her, and was overflowing with nervousness. And then he walked straight past the compartment she was seated in. 'Wow,' was all she thought, and all other nervous thoughts evacuated her mind. A small boy with nearly white hair and bright eyes, a gracious looking young man he was, being followed by a couple others. The boy's friends were twice his size, tough looking and burly, like bodyguards.

The second time she saw him was on the very same day, in the Great Hall of a magnificent castle, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, when the first years were being sorted into four different houses. In front of the whole school was a stool with an old, ragged hat resting on it. Everyone silenced, and to both her horror and her surprise, the hat started to sing. She was certainly not used to magical, animate objects.

_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find _

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your tops hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head _

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you _

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell brave of heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a ready mind, _

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And you won't get in a flap!_

_You're safe in my hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!_

There was loud applause as the old hat finished his song, and an old woman cloaked in green, Professor McGonagall began calling out names to be sorted.

His strange name was called before hers. He stepped up and sat on the stool and was placed in Slytherin before the hat was even set on his head properly. Slytherin appeared to be the worst house, with the little knowledge she had. She wondered how such a handsome, gracious boy could be called cunning and selfish so proudly. He looked very content being placed in Slytherin.

Towards the end of the sorting ceremony her name was finally called. She could feel herself shaking as she stepped up to the stool. She was never good at presenting herself to a body of people. She felt like she'd been up there forever that night.

The hat did a lot of thinking out loud. It was reading her thoughts and listing her values. "A quiet one I see... reserved, and a thorough thinker. You keep complications to yourself and, ah! Quite independent you are, but a very emotional one. Hmm... Adapts to new situations easily, therefore gets along with people quite easily... very just. And a keen learner..." At this point the Sorting Hat was deciding between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.

The hat paused, silent for a short moment, and then finally continued,

"A half-blood I see, but very brave when you have to be. Intelligent! You know what you need to know..." The hat seemed to think about it a little more, and by then she was getting quite embarrassed with the amount of people who were actually now looking in her direction, either paying attention to what the hat was saying or wondering what was taking so long for one little first year. Besides Harry Potter, of course. But no one knew who she was, and so it was unusual.

The hat kept on talking, seemingly talking about her more happy side.

"Humorous, always looking for something fun to do, a happy person. Your first impression on people is happy and bright..." The hat laughed, "But you do get hurt easily... weak emotion, but determination, a little bit of cunningness, and great ideas... but where's the courage? Just when I thought_ definitely not a Slytherin_..."

She remembered how she felt her face heat up as she realised the Great Hall was so quiet you could almost hear a pin drop.

She raised her eyes slowly from the floor to the rest of Hogwarts. She remembered the exact words of the Sorting Hat,

"You are a unique person, someone with the right qualities for every house… I haven't come across this for quite a few years… Ah! I see it now! The courage will come through. I think you should be proud to call yourself… A GRYFFINDOR!" And the Gryffindor house went up in an uproar. But she remembered thinking right before the hat told her she was a Gryffindor that she wanted to be a Slytherin, just like that boy. She remembered looking out at the crowd and finding that boy, seeing his white blonde hair and looking at his grey-blue eyes, when she noticed them looking right back at her bright blue ones. He flashed her a very small, nervous smile, seeing the very small gleam in her eyes… but as soon as the word Gryffindor was spoken, his gorgeous smile almost literally slipped right off his face and his eyes were not blue-grey, but just grey. She remembered feeling the disappointment, and she hasn't seen Draco Malfoy smile like that since, nor the small sparkle in his eyes. Nobody has.

But that was exactly five years ago to the day. The sorting ceremony evokes those early memories every year. She hadn't done anything over the past five years to be noticed or gain recognition. It left her wondering why the hat made her seem so special that night, and she bet the years above hers thought so too. She wasn't another legendary hero to come to Hogwarts. She was her plain, half-blood self who arrived at Hogwarts with little knowledge of the magical world. She still awaited the time for her courage, for whatever reason, to come through. The Sorting Hat said it would, like it was destined.

It was now the beginning of her sixth year at Hogwarts. She was sitting in the Gryffindor common room by herself late at night, wondering why Draco Malfoy had been so mesmerising. In fact, she was wondering why he was _still_ so mesmerising.

She now knew Draco quite well, knew what type of unkind and taunting person he was. He was a nasty person. He was destined to be a follower of the Dark Lord, as she learned about death eaters, dark magic and more in depth history about the Hogwarts houses over the years. Now with all the knowledge she had, Slytherin was still, by far the house that withheld the worst traits, and she now understood why Draco was placed there.

She had also learned about Harry Potter's story, and how he became a part of wizard history by unknowingly defeating Voldemort as a baby. A lot of strange things happened at Hogwarts that usually involved Harry. Harry was a classmate of hers, but also a good friend. Most of the Gryffindors in sixth year where good friends to her. Unfortunately, Draco had taunted, teased and insulted a large handful of them, and was directly Harry's arch nemesis.

There was an ongoing rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin. This rivalry was just about ancient. Naturally, without even knowing each other personally, Gryffindor and Slytherin students held a strong dislike for each other from day one. It was basically expected. So, over all the years spent at Hogwarts, Draco was meant to be her enemy. Though, they'd hardly ever interacted before. The only taunting she'd ever received from him was when she was in a group of Gryffindors. She thought that hardly counted, but somehow he always looked down his nose at her in disgust. Draco is some low kind of scum to Gryffindors. He is from a rich, pureblood family, and therefore is 'superior' to the rest. His whole life he has been expected to behave in a manner higher than those of high society standard, like he deserves more. His family lives by it. Strong magical heritage like that is a major trait in Slytherin.

She hears people talking about him all the time, what kind of low act he's committed lately and what he called who. But she's never said anything about him, good or bad on her own accord. She just simply supports her friends.

This part of her life at Hogwarts made the last five years a long five years. But she could never work out why. There was just something about Draco Malfoy that kept her wondering. She was determined, she was convinced if she had the chance she could make him a better person, make him realise there was much more to life than being pureblood and making everyone feel lesser.

"Bec? It's late, what are you still doing down here? Never mind, first day of classes tomorrow, come on." Rebecca was startled by Hermione Granger. She was one of the girls who she shared a dorm with. Hermione was one of her closest friends. They met at the beginning of first year in their dorm and have been friends ever since. She was one of Rebecca's first friends at Hogwarts.

"Right, I'm coming." She said quickly, nearly afraid Hermione had caught her not doing anything productive. Rebecca willed herself out of the comfy armchair she had settled into and followed Hermione back to their dorm. Before she knew it, she was falling asleep dreaming of the boy, with the white blonde hair and the grey eyes, Draco Malfoy.


	2. Chapter 2

Rebecca woke up the next morning to thumping on her dorm door. She ignored it at first, but she soon realised it wasn't going to stop. Ironically, it stopped right as she stepped out of her bed. She sighed in relief, but then heard voices instead.

"Bec! Bec? Get up! You're going to be late!" She heard muffled voices calling. She tiredly stumbled across the room to open the door, revealing Harry Potter. Next to him stood Ron Weasley, who was another good friend of Rebecca's. They stood there, in uniform and ready to go.

"You're going to be late for our first day." Harry said.

"Half of Gryffindor has left for breakfast already!" Ron said, implying he was going to miss out. He loved his food.

"Oh no, first day already?" Rebecca groaned.

"Hermione said you were up late again." Harry said, like it was becoming a usual occurrence.

"Yeah," She replied, regretting it already. "Wait for me? I'll be quick." She said without waiting for an answer and shut the door. She pulled her uniform from her trunk, which she should have prepared the night before, and quickly got dressed. She brushed her teeth and finger combed her long blonde, wavy hair from her face as fast as she could.

She rushed down to the Common Room to find Harry and Ron waiting just before the portrait hole. They were the last Gryffindors to leave for breakfast, and some of the last to arrive at the Great Hall.

She fell a few steps behind Harry and Ron to adjust her robes. Once she readied herself she walked around the corner, and just as she was stepping into the Great Hall she walked straight into someone who was walking out. The unexpected collision nearly knocked her over. She looked up, pushing her hair out of her eyes again, only to find that she had walked into Draco Malfoy. It appeared the run in had the same effect on him as it did her.

"Whyte." He addressed her abruptly.

"Malfoy." She replied, trying to mimic the tone he had used. They took a few long seconds to look over each other.

"You look different." He said, glancing between her eyes. She looked right back, suddenly feeling self conscious. She wondered if she looked different because she hadn't done her hair properly.

She felt that she must have been looking at him a little too long without saying anything, because he then added a little too quickly,

"Not in a bad way, don't take it personally or anything, uh…" He stopped and a frown appeared on his face,

"Wasn't counting on it..." She said unsurely. He raised his eyebrows and continued past her without another word.

Rebecca found Harry and Ron, accompanied by some others sitting at the Gryffindor table, where she joined them.

"Bec! Where have you been?" She looked up from her breakfast, to see Hermione return to the table and handing out timetables that she had received from Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor. Rebecca was just about to answer her when Ron's older identical twin brothers, Fred and George Weasley, joined them.

"Morning!" Fred and George said at the same time. Some people replied, some people grumbled. Fred and George were far too cheery for the first day of classes.

"You'll never guess who we just ran into," Fred started,

"And _swamped _with one of our new portable swamps!" George finished. Everybody turned their attention to the twins immediately. The two of them were tricksters, often pulling pranks and testing new products they invent on students and teachers. They were incredibly entertaining, though some of their products can turn out to be dangerous.

"Draco Malfoy!" They said together, and high-fived each other victoriously. The Gryffindor table proceeded to laugh at the thought of Draco being stuck in a swamp. Even Rebecca couldn't help herself. She quickly dove back into her breakfast, feeling a bit guilty that everyone was laughing at someone's unfortunate luck.

"What's wrong? Don't you think that's funny? Completely made my morning." Ron said, nudging Rebecca in the ribs as he noticed the lack of cheer on her face. Harry and himself chuckled quietly. Ron despised Draco at all costs. In fact, his whole family despised the Malfoys all together.

"Yeah, yeah... it's hilarious." She smiled.

"Why don't I believe you?" Ron asked, the smile slowly disappearing from his face.

"I, er..." She began to stumble on her words.

"I'm sure he'll still be stuck there, I can run back and feed him a puking pastil if you'd like!" Fred offered.

"No! No, you don't need to do that." She rushed. Fred eyed her for a moment.

"I think I left a book back in the Common Room, I'll need to get it before my first class. I'll see you all later." She excused herself quickly and received her timetable from Hermione before leaving the Great Hall. She didn't really need a book from the Common Room. She just wanted to leave.

Rebecca didn't get very far before she heard footsteps closing up behind her. She could hear the twins talking quietly between themselves. She stopped and turned around, looking at them questionably. She doubted they left books in the Common Room as well. She wasn't even entirely sure that they took any books to class. Once they reached her they pushed her down onto a bench against the wall without warning and stood in front of her, their arms crossed.

"Twenty Questions." Fred said.

"First question, why do you not find our pranks funny?" George asked.

"I do!" Rebecca answered urgently.

"Then why weren't you laughing?" It was Fred's turn to ask.

"I was!" She replied, trying to back further into the wall where she was seated.

"No you weren't..." George said, looking a little offended.

"What kind of person doesn't laugh at things they find funny?" Fred asked. Rebecca didn't know if she was meant to answer that question.

"Are you feeling alright?" George asked, quickly placing a hand against her forehead to check for a temperature.

"Yes, I'm fine," She giggled as she tried to wriggle away from George's hand.

"Then what's wrong?" Both Fred and George asked at the same time.

"N-nothing..." She said nervously, "I really need to go and get that book," She added as she made to get up and leave.

"Not yet you don't." Fred said as he pushed her back onto the bench.

"What aren't you telling us?" George asked as the both of them sat down on either side of her.

"A lot of things, probably." Rebecca said, almost sarcastic. Nobody knew about her fascination for Draco Malfoy.

"Is it because it was Malfoy?" Fred suggested.

"Yeap, that's exactly it. I'm tired of hearing about Malfoy all the time." She said, flowing with the conversation and trying to come up with a believable story quick enough for it to be believable.

"No way, no one gets sick of picking on Malfoy. Never will I believe that." George refused her last answer.

"What then?" She said, and it was too late before she realised that she gave herself away by asking what they would believe.

"...Alright, we're all ears now. Whatever it is that's said in the next few minutes doesn't leave this spot. Fire away." Fred said, shaking George's hand so Rebecca could see they promised. She gave in almost too easily, and she began to quietly tell them everything.


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you kidding?" George started,

"This is _Draco Malfoy_," Fred added, emphasizing very loudly.

"We've only been back at school for _a day_!" They both finished.

"This didn't happen overnight." Rebecca quickly informed them. She'd already begun to think telling them was a bad idea.

"How can you not hate him?" They said in perfect synchronization.

"I hate the person he is, and the things he does to people. I don't know what it is, or why. I just see straight through that."

"That's crazy. That boy is a lowlife, piece of scum. Give up now." George said.

"Don't even bother!" Fred advised. Rebecca was hurt by their harsh words and quick judgements. Apparently it showed.

"Sorry." They both said extremely fast.

"Does he know? You know, that he doesn't bother you?" George asked quickly, his mind beginning to fill with all sorts of questions.

"I haven't told him! I've never ever told anyone, except for you guys cos' you wouldn't leave me alone."

"Why'd you tell us, of all people? You could have lied... Even though you suck at it." Fred said quietly, trying to bring humour back into the situation. Rebecca let out a small laugh.

"I know... Thank you, though, for listening..." She said softly.

"You know, we could always give Malfoy one of our love potions, so he'll fall in love with you, but then it'll wear off and you can see the real Malfoy!" George piped up quickly, grinning almost devilishly.

"I've seen the real Malfoy, George, it doesn't change anything."

"Of course not..." George muttered.

"This is _Draco Malfoy_!" Fred said, yet again, emphasizing loudly like he was sounding it out.

"Okay, I know." Rebecca said, feeling defeated.

"Glorious start to the term, hey?" George asked rhetorically, shaking his head. The castle bell sounded and students began to leave the Great Hall for their first lesson.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone, not a soul!" Rebecca asked of them quickly before they had to go.

"Promise." Fred and George both said in perfect unison. They hooked their arms with Rebecca's and hauled her off the bench with them.

"Speaking of Malfoy, I think it's about time we went and freed him from that swamp before a teacher finds him..." George said as they released Rebecca from their grip.

"You left him there?" Rebecca asked, shocked enough to stop walking as the twins continued a few paces down the corridor. They simply looked at each other and said,

"Nah," and continued down the corridor quite hurriedly. Rebecca, a bit wary, quickly went after them.

They turned the corner at the end of the corridor only to find that Professor Snape, head of Slytherin, had discovered Draco who was unable to move from where he was standing because of a muddy, smelly substance, before the twins had returned to reluctantly free him. Professor Snape was every Gryffindors' least favourite teacher. This was mainly because Professor Snape obviously favoured Slytherin house, and very obviously disadvantaged Gryffindors. Rebecca wisely held her distance behind the twins.

"...Those wretched Weasley twins, Professor, I swear I was just walking back to the Common Room to get something when they threw a handful of this sticky mud right at me..." Malfoy scoffed angrily. Neither Malfoy nor Professor Snape appeared to realise Rebecca and the twins were standing just behind them, until:

"That's a lie, Professor! He was insulting our family." George shot a quick glare in Malfoy's direction. Fred stared at the scene before him, while Rebecca watched on, slightly bewildered, at a safe distance behind the twins. She could hear students coming up the corridor on their way to their lessons, which Snape appeared oblivious too.

She had a good look at Malfoy for the first time in this sticky situation. He was up to his knees in smelly mud and wasn't able to move his feet at all. Then she looked at his face. He looked stressed, and very embarrassed, and was quite aware of the approaching students. Rebecca hoped someone would hurry up and un-stick Malfoy before the students reached the corner, to save him further embarrassment. However, she still couldn't help but smile at his weakness, appearing lesser than everyone. Not to mention the mud he'd accidently smeared across one side of his face. Malfoy noticed her looking on.

"None of your funny business in the corridors!" Snape harped at the twins, "Thirty points from Gryffindor!"

"Thirty points?" Fred exclaimed.

"Malfoy's the one at fault, though, Professor!" George argued.

"Want to make it sixty?" Snape warned. George shut his mouth, while Fred's hung open.

"Now clean up this mess _right now!_" He barked. The twins sulked forward and began to get rid of the portable swamp while Malfoy watched them in disgust. He was far from happy. Thankfully, it didn't take the twins long to clean up, and Malfoy was free by the time the students walked around the corner. Some stalled at the sight of Malfoy who was still covered in mud, while others didn't care less, almost like it was a regular occurrence.

"Now, off to class, Weasleys, before more points are deducted! And you, Mr Malfoy, ought to keep your thoughts to yourself. Go and clean yourself up and get to class." Snape ordered before continuing down the corridor.

The twins looked back to Rebecca with a cheeky smile before leaving for their first class. Draco waited for them to leave, perhaps in fear of being outnumbered once there was no teacher. He too looked at Rebecca for a bit longer than necessary as though he wanted to say something, wishing she hadn't seen that scenario, and then left in the same direction as everyone else.

"Did you find your book?" Hermione asked, startling Rebecca. Harry and Ron were beside her.

"Oh, yes." She answered, feeling like she'd been caught off guard. Hermione quickly glanced at Rebecca's schedule and announced that they all had their first lesson together. After an unusually eventful morning, they were finally off to their first class of the year.


	4. Chapter 4

Rebecca, Hermione, Harry and Ron had a nice and easy start to the day in Herbology inside one of the greenhouses. It was entirely uneventful compared to Rebecca's morning. The class was only told that they were going to be working with rather dangerous plants this term. Professor Sprout, their Herbology teacher, continued to explain in detail what type of plants they would be undertaking and how they were going to be working. After a slow, easy hour, the bell was heard from the castle to signal the start of their next lesson.

Next they had Defence Against the Darks Arts, with Snape. No one could actually believe Snape had received this position this year, as he had been after it since the sixth years began at Hogwarts.

The four of them trudged from the greenhouse back up to the castle. They reached their assigned classroom to find the entire class lined up outside the classroom door waiting for Snape. It appeared the Gryffindors shared this class with the Slytherins. Rebecca noticed Draco talking amongst his 'minions', as Ron had started calling them some time ago. They included Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle and Pansy Parkinson. However, Draco was far more interested in engaging with Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott, who were also equal purebloods. Rebecca noticed Draco had changed his uniform, and that Draco glanced at her warily more than once. She thought he might still be embarrassed.

Then suddenly Snape slammed open the classroom door and everyone fell quiet immediately.

"File in silently and stand at the back of the room." He said quite bluntly. Everyone did exactly what he said, not making a sound. Snape marched to the front of the room, turned around and said,

"You will be placed in a seat, alphabetical order." Snape continued to tell everyone where to sit. Rebecca looked around, taking note as to where everyone else was seated. Very fortunately she was seated next to Ron. The two of them sat second from the back on the right side of the room. There were three more rows in front of them. Blaise Zabini and another boy were behind them in the back row. Directly across the aisle from Rebecca on the left side of the room sat Draco Malfoy.

For the first half of the lesson, Snape gave a very long and boring lecture about Dark Arts, the best spells ever used in triumph, and summed up what the class were going to be learning throughout the term. Rebecca wasn't really paying that much attention, at all, and she knew she was going to regret it later. She just couldn't wake up and then stay awake. She thought she was just about to fall asleep, her head rested in her hand, when something small hit her in the face.

She gasped suddenly, sitting up straight, rubbing one of her eyes.

"Miss Whyte?" Snape queried her as she apparently interrupted his ongoing lecture. She looked up at him,

"Sorry." She mumbled.

"Sorry _what_?" He snapped.

"Sir!" She added quickly.

"What?" He glared at her.

"Sorry, Sir!" She said quickly. He glared at her a short moment longer before turning back to the class.

Rebecca looked down at her desk to see something that looked like a small origami bird. She looked at it for a minute, frowning as she finally concluded that that was what had hit her in the face.

She then noticed tiny writing on one of its wings. She picked it up and quietly opened it. Ron was oblivious to her secrecy, nearly drooling on the desk in his boredom. Sometimes she thought he could sleep with his eyes open.

The neat, tiny writing read 'Wake up!', and wasn't signed, which didn't help as she hadn't seen where it had come from. She quickly scrawled 'Awake.' underneath the tiny writing and folded it back up again into its previous form. She expected it was enchanted as it held together perfectly and flapped its small paper wings once. She delicately placed it on one of her hands and lifted it up to her face.

"Miss Whyte!" She looked up to see Snape glaring at her again. She didn't know if he heard her or saw her first.

"Are you asking for a detention?"

"No, Sir, sorry, Sir!" She said quickly. He again continued with his long lecture. Rebecca then leaned down closer to her desk, hiding her hand behind her books, and blew on the small paper bird gently to cause it to become airborne. She watched it fly elegantly across the classroom, expecting it to return to its creator. It landed directly in front of Draco.

Rebecca's eyes widened, and hoped that the paper bird actually would return to its creator, otherwise it was her turn to become embarrassed. She watched with wide eyes as Draco unfolded the bird, and she heard him snigger quietly. Draco picked up his quill and wrote on it. She expected it was something rude and embarrassing, so she looked away. After a few seconds the bird landed in front of her again. She opened it. It said 'Look's like you're in Snape's bad books already.' It appeared Draco _was_ the bird's creator, which brought Rebecca great relief. She wrote back 'So I'm guessing you're not then?' and blew it back. Next thing she heard was Snape's voice break from the boring lecture for the third time that lesson,

"Mr Malfoy!" Rebecca looked up, startled, as did Draco.

"Where did that come from?" He snapped. Draco and Rebecca looked at each other.

"Nowhere, Professor, sorry." Rebecca thought that was the end of the bird, but before she knew it, it had landed in front of her again, saying 'I guess not.' She shielded her eyes as she read it, like it would block out her quiet laughter from reaching Snape as well.

"Whyte!" Snape shouted sounding extremely irritated this time. He finally woke up Ron. Rebecca looked up at him again.

"Please stop interrupting my class or I will be sure to punish you!" Rebecca looked down at her desk without saying anything, feeling his eyes penetrating her face until he started speaking again. She quickly wrote on the note 'I think I'm going to end up with a detention already on my first day.', though she hardly ever received any. She blew the bird back. She watched Malfoy read it and he smirked. He quickly scribbled something on it and blew it back over once more.

"Mr Malfoy!" Snape yelled, loudest yet. Rebecca quickly snatched the fluttering bird out of the air, and was sure she had crumpled it.

"And Miss Whyte! If you would rather be a bit closer?" Snape yelled, casting a spell neither of them had ever heard before. All of a sudden Rebecca was thrown out of her seat and ended up harshly colliding with Draco in the middle of the room, as he was flung out of his seat as well. The two of them sat mangled on the floor, groaning in pain for a quick moment before picking themselves up. They both made to go back to their own seats. As soon as they were about arms' length away from each other, they both felt a strange tugging sensation on the back of their hands and couldn't go any further to reach their seats.

Rebecca turned around and looked at Draco quite puzzled and he wore the same confused expression. They flicked their eyes to their hands and then both yelled with surprise. They quickly turned to Snape, panic written all over their faces as the class erupted into a fit of giggles.

The backs of Draco's and Rebecca's hands were stuck together.

"I wouldn't like to think I'd have such good students on detention so early in the term. I'll punish you instead; this will not go down on your reports." Snape said surprisingly calmly, satisfied with what he had done.

"Please take your seats." Snape gestured with his hands. Rebecca looked at Draco, and he gestured with his free hand over to her seat.

Rebecca sat down and shuffled over, so Malfoy could share the small seat. She noticed Ron eagerly shuffle his entire seat away from them, horrified to be in such close proximity to Draco.

Draco had his free arm, elbow propped on his knee and his head rested in his hand. Rebecca just sat there and stared at their hands.

"Are you left handed or right?" She asked him.

"Right." He mumbled unhappily, turning to look at their hands again.

"You?" He asked.

"Right." Fortunately for Rebecca it was her right hand that was free. Unlucky for Draco, it was his right hand that was stuck to Rebecca's left.

After another silent moment Malfoy whispered,

"Let's pull our hands away from each other really quickly, alright?"

"What? Why? Won't it hurt?" Rebecca asked quickly, not liking the sound of his idea.

"I don't know. I've never heard of this spell before, have you?"

"No," She replied, giving in.

"Okay, on the count of three. One, two, _three_!" On three they pulled their hands in opposite directions with all the force they could muster in those three seconds. Rebecca screamed with agony and Malfoy yelled, ducking his head. Everyone turned to look, even Snape, with puzzled expressions.

It was definitely one of the most painful thing Rebecca had ever experienced to date. To her it felt as though stiff wire had been threaded under their skin, stitching their hands together. Rebecca sniffed as her eyes watered with the pain. She looked down to Draco to see his eyes watering too. The pain was fading much too slowly.

"Great idea!" She hissed at Draco through gritted teeth.

"What did you just do?" Snape asked, also through gritted teeth.

"Tried to pull our hands apart!" Malfoy snarled angrily.

"It's not going to work. It lasts for two days."

"What?" Draco shouted in total disbelief.

"What about classes?" Rebecca asked, panicking.

"And night time?" Draco added.

"I'll leave you two to figure it out as part of your punishment." Snape said, having not thought the punishment all the way through in such hasty annoyance. Rebecca slouched on the seat as Draco let his head fall back into his hand, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. Rebecca heard him curse violently under his breath.

"Class dismissed." Snape finally announced, and the two struggled with their books, being the last out of the classroom. At least there was now a short break for Rebecca and Draco to figure something out.


	5. Chapter 5

"Everyone is going to get the wrong idea." Rebecca pointed out as Draco and herself were walking down the corridor heading for the courtyard. He shrugged.

"People are sending us funny looks." She added.

"Well, there's not a lot we can do about it, is there? Stop complaining." He muttered.

"If there was something, would you do it?" Rebecca asked before she could stop herself. Again, he just shrugged to suffice as an answer. The lack of Draco's voice in their current conversation was really beginning to get to Rebecca. They reached the courtyard and sat down on an unoccupied stone bench.

"What are we going to do about classes?" Draco asked Rebecca as though she had all the answers. She tried her best to come up with suggestions to keep Draco's anger at bay.

"Let's look at our timetables first." She suggested. They each pulled out their timetables and compared them. Fortunately for them they turned out to have majority of the same classes, all except for one today and two tomorrow. The one they didn't have together today was scheduled last.

After quite a bit of civilised arguing the pair decided they would simply miss the classes they didn't have together. They figured it was too early in the term to miss out on anything major. For dinner, it was decided that Rebecca was going to be brave enough to sit at the Slytherin table.

The rest of the day they went to each class, explaining over and over to every teacher why they were stuck together. The last lesson of the day rolled around surprisingly fast, which meant it was time to go elsewhere.

They eventually decided to go to one of the castle's many balconies where there weren't any people around to spot them. While they were up there, they couldn't do much except talk. As they'd hardly interacted over the years they spent going to classes together, it was mostly small talk revolving around school. It was charming talk as they spoke about the lessons they enjoyed and the teachers they hated, and all the natural history that stood between them was buried. They were talking and agreeing with each other, like civil class mates. They barely had to think the conversation ran so smoothly. They were getting along.

But just under the surface, they both knew that either of them hardly dared to talk about each other's backgrounds or their home life as they both knew the basics, which caused their natural rivalry. Rebecca was a half-blood with little magic in her ancestry and Draco was a pureblood with Death Eaters in his.

At this point, Rebecca was still mildly surprised she had been landed in this situation with Draco Malfoy of all people. It seemed very ironic. She had no clue what had possessed Professor Snape to even think of putting Draco and herself in such a situation. It was unheard of.

Once they realised the lesson should nearly be ending, they began to think of a cover story for when Rebecca sat at the Slytherin table that evening. Draco thought the truth would embarrass him. Rebecca was tired, and thought he'd been embarrassed enough for one day, so she agreed. They ended up with a dull story that told of Snape hexing them for being distracting in class. Separately, of course.

The unlikely couple spent their afternoon wandering around the courtyard as the sun was setting, waiting for dinner time to come. Even when the sun had nearly gone, the air remained warm with the last hint of summer.

They ended up making up silly games to pass the time. Draco drew a large target on the ground and they stood on the other side of the courtyard to throw rocks onto it. Whoever got the most points won. Rebecca did have quite an advantage however, as Malfoy was left to use his left hand.

Finally they were allowed to head to the Great Hall for dinner. Rebecca saw all her friends at the Gryffindor table and sent them a small wave. They all waved back, some of them with a bit of a disapproving frown as they realised where she was headed. Fred and George were nearly in hysterics. Rebecca was trusting them to stay quiet.

Draco led Rebecca to sit down at the Slytherin table, receiving many strange and possibly jealous looks. Rebecca even swore she heard some of the slimy Slytherins asking each other how the hell Malfoy ended up with a Gryffindor. That must be what it looked like to them.

Across from Malfoy sat Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott and the rest of his 'minions'.

"Why are you two still holding hands? If you let go for two seconds you might be able to cut up some of your food." Blaise, who clearly knew they weren't holding hands as he witnessed the unfortunate spell, taunted.

Draco looked at him, "You know full well we aren't holding hands!" He snapped, clearly frustrated with him, so began to tell our cover story, " In Defence Against the Dark Arts," was all he got to say before Blaise cut in instead,

"Snape stuck their hands together for passing notes!" He yelled down the Slytherin table. Many of the Slytherins began to laugh their awful laughs. Rebecca looked down in fear of the Slytherins. They were horrible to each other.

Draco shot murderous glares in Blaise's direction. For the rest of dinner they two were constantly being asked all sorts of embarrassing, and not to mention insulting, questions and listened to people making jokes about us "tying the knot". Rebecca couldn't wait to leave, and quite frankly, neither could Draco.

When dinner was finally over, Rebecca and Draco exited the Great Hall along with everyone else 'hand in hand'. They reached the point along the corridor where Slytherin was one way and Gryffindor the other. Rebecca naturally turned to head to Gryffindor Tower while Draco turned for the dungeons.

Momentarily forgetting, they accidentally tugged on each other's hands again, which ended with the both of them yelling out in pain again. Many students paused to look, clueless as to what was going on.

"Where the hell are you going?" Draco asked sharply.

"Gryffindor." Rebecca replied sounding as though she was stating the blooming obvious.

"Why?" He asked.

"It's where I normally go. Where should I be going?"

"Slytherin."

"Why would I go there?" She asked him.

"Why not?" He said defensively.

"I don't know… I guess we're going to end up sleeping together one way or another," She said, and he smirked.

"I don't mean it like that, and you know it." She snapped. He laughed and prompted her towards the dungeons. Rebecca was quickly learning that she gave into Draco much too easily.

They walked deep into the dungeons, were it was cold and the old stone smelt damp. Draco seemed to stop in the middle of the corridor for no apparent reason.

"What?" Rebecca asked.

"Cover your ears then." He commanded.

"Why?" She asked, confused.

"Because this is it, now cover your ears." He said and forced her stuck hand to her ear with his.

"Dark Arts." She heard him mutter as he had hardly waited for her to cover her other ear. She wouldn't tell him she knew the password. That would cause too much hassle. Then heavy stones started to rearrange themselves in the middle of the corridor wall to reveal a dark passage. Draco stepped inside, dragging Rebecca behind him.

The Slytherin common room was dark with a greenish tinge from the light being filtered through from the Black Lake. There were similar couches, tables and shelves to those of the Gryffindor common room, except the couches were black leather, and the tables and shelves were made of the darkest timber. It didn't seem to have a very nice atmosphere.

Rebecca was a little shocked at how easily she had managed to get into another house's common room, even when she was directly lead in by another student. Draco didn't seem to think twice about bringing a Gryffindor into the Slytherin Common Room. It was against Hogwarts' rules to enter another common room. She always expected there to be charms or something that would prevent students if they had actually found an entrance and coincidently knew the password.

Draco led Rebecca to sit on one of the big leather lounges. They sat in silence for quite a long time and everyone else avoided them. Rebecca would have crossed her arms if she could, although she was sure if she did anyway, Draco wouldn't mind.

It was late at night before the activity in the common room had subsided considerably. Rebecca spoke for the first time, suggesting they try and find out a bit about this spell.

"You mean research?" Draco queried.

"I guess so. But we might be able to get unstuck." She said, hopeful. Draco agreed and not a moment later did they have a massive pile of books in front of them.

They spent half the night searching through each and every book from cover to cover.

They each had a large book in hand, and Rebecca was guessing it was about one or two in the morning when she began to doze off. She could feel her eyes drooping as sleep finally took over her tired form.

"I found it!" Rebecca woke to an excited voice yell. She flinched when she felt more pain in the back of her hand. It felt as though she had only been asleep for a few seconds. She sat upright, remembering where she was, with who, and that she had been sleeping on his shoulder.

"How long have I been asleep for?" She asked, sounding groggy.

"Um, 'bout half an hour." Draco replied.

"On your shoulder?" She couldn't believe she had actually fallen asleep on Draco Malfoy's shoulder.

"Yeah. You were tired, and I didn't want to wake you. It's not like I could have moved you far anyway." He said.

"Oh. Thanks." She gave him a small thankful smile. And then he smiled. He smiled as though he truly appreciated her thanks. He smiled that gorgeous smile she hadn't seen since the beginning of first year.


	6. Chapter 6

"I found the spell." Draco repeated. Rebecca was impressed that he had continued looking even after she had fallen asleep, and not fallen asleep himself. He held the large book while Rebecca and himself read about the spell. As soon as they finished, Draco groaned in annoyance and Rebecca sighed.

There was a reversal spell, but it would only work if the person who cast the spell on them in the first place, in this case Snape, performed it. That scenario would be highly unlikely, so they were well and truly stuck for the next day or so.

They sat in silence again, in the very early hours of the morning, as they tried to get comfortable on the couch which they thought was getting harder and harder. Nothing was working for them; Rebecca wasn't even sure how she managed to fall asleep before. Eventually Draco gave in,

"Look, why don't we just go up to bed? That way we might actually get some sleep."

"Who's bed?" Rebecca asked, a little bit stunned.

"Mine."

"What? In the boy's dorms?"

"Yeah. Where else?"

"But what about all the other boys in your dorm?" Rebecca asked warily, not exactly liking the sound of Draco's idea. She thought the Slytherin Common Room was bad enough.

"Don't worry, they're used to it." Draco assured her, and shrugged like it was nothing. Rebecca pulled a face, and dearly hoped he was joking.

Rebecca was becoming more tired and eventually agreed with Draco's suggestion. They made their way up to Draco's dorm. On the way up Rebecca demanded, whispering, that she was sleeping furthest away from the other boys. Fortunately Draco's bed was the furthest away, next to the window.

Draco slowly opened the door, snuck in with Rebecca in tow and quietly shut it again. They shuffled across the room in the dark past all the other boys, none of them stirring once. They reached Draco's bed, stopped and looked at each.

"We can't sleep in our uniform." Rebecca said quickly, though she didn't really have any other option.

"Nup." Draco agreed. He flicked his wand, and before Rebecca could blink, there he stood with nothing on but a pair of baggy pants.

"Go on, then." He motioned to Rebecca, noticing she hadn't changed herself.

"I don't know that spell." She muttered softly, a little embarrassed. He smirked in a degrading way and flicked his wand again. Rebecca now stood wearing the same pyjamas she had worn the previous night.

"Nice." Draco commented slyly, noticeably looking at her, and she felt like she was being judged or compared. She was feeling a little anxious about having to share a bed with a half naked Draco Malfoy. In fact, she didn't really want to be there at all.

The bed was exactly the same make as the ones in Gryffindor Tower; a four poster with curtains. Except being Slytherin, the covers were green. Draco allowed Rebecca to crawl across the bed to the further side first, himself obviously quite close behind.

Rebecca sunk down into the mattress, as close to the edge as she could get. Draco then dragged the covers up over them both. Draco laid down with such force that he caused the mattress to bounce, and with Rebecca being so close to the edge already, she was nearly falling out.

"Draco!" She squeaked. Draco looked over to see Rebecca trying to get a strong grip on the covers which were beginning to go with her. Right before she topple out of the small bed, she felt a strong hand wrap around her waist to stop her.

"Not even in bed for more than two seconds and you're already falling out." Draco chortled. Rebecca ignored him and carefully shuffled a little closer to prevent herself from falling out again. The bed was way too small for the both of them. Rebecca was so close to Draco that she could feel his steady breath on her face and the heat radiating from his body. Before she knew it she was sleeping in a heavy dreamless sleep as she finally found comfort.

Rebecca woke up again just a few hours later. It was still dark and all she could hear was a dormitory full of snoring boys. She carefully propped herself up onto one elbow, feeling the left side of her body aching from laying on it for so long as I sign to roll over. She searched the room for a clock, wanting to know how much longer she would have to spend in Slytherin, and eventually spotted a watch on a bedside table on Draco's side of the bed.

She sat up, and as still as she could, began to reach over him carefully as not to wake him. But then she felt him stir.

"Whyte," He mumbled groggily. She froze as she was still stretched out over him. She heard him take a deep breath,

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to see the time..." She whispered feebly. He too sat up, rubbing shoulders with her. He grabbed the watch off the table, rubbed his eyes tiredly and inspected it in the dark.

"It's 5am." He clearly complained.

"Oh. Thanks. Hey, would you mind if we swapped sides?" She asked, still whispering.

"What for?" He whispered, agitated.

"I need to roll over." She said weakly.

"Fine." He said, annoyed at being so disturbed and just wanting to go back to sleep. He got up onto his knees and Rebecca shuffled over to his side a bit more once she realised what he was doing. He stepped over her, pausing half way for a quick moment. She could only imagine the smirk on his face, feeling vulnerable. He continued over her and aimed to sit himself down on what had been her side of the bed, but instead missed and instantly fell to the floor with a loud thump.

There was another strong and painful tug on the back of Rebecca's left hand as she was forced to fall out of the bed with Draco. Normally she would have expected the hard floor and that's what she should have gotten, but this time she expected Draco, and that's exactly what she got.

She landed on top of him harshly with a loud "oomph!" sound coming from both of them. Rebecca's hands were rested on his shoulders, being the only thing to prevent them from head butting each other. She thought Draco sounded as though he had had all the air pushed out of him. He gave a couple of coughs and took deep, struggling breaths.

"Are you okay?" Rebecca asked sounding quite alarmed, forgetting all about whispering. Before he answered he acknowledged how they were positioned in the small space between the bed and the window, took a breath and said quite enthusiastically,

"Never better!" He was smirking again. It was hard to tell in the dark. He could have been smiling, which would have greatly reduced Rebecca's urge to slap his sarcastic attitude.

"Sod off," She said in an amused voice, though she meant it.

"Not even in bed for more than two seconds and you're already falling out." She mocked him, the neither of them could help but laugh.

"Come on, and be careful this time." Rebecca said, as she made to get off of Draco.

She carefully rolled off Draco and waited for him to get up so that she could too. They got back into bed without too much hassle, and Rebecca found it nearly impossible to get back to sleep. Soon enough she could hear Draco's steady breathing, meaning he was asleep. She then found it a lot easier to doze off knowing she wasn't being watched.

No more than about two hours later, Rebecca was woken to the sound of sniggering and whispers at the door. She opened her eyes, but didn't stir. She was trying to listen to what they were saying. They were things like 'who is that?' or 'she's a half-blood Gryffindor isn't she?' and even 'I heard them really early this morning.' Quite obviously they all very well had the wrong picture.

Without warning Draco sat up in the bed to look at the boys who were at the door. Rebecca hadn't known he was awake. It was much lighter in the room now, and as Rebecca was facing Draco she couldn't help but notice how attractive he was when he lacked a shirt, even when he had just woken up.

"What do you want?" He snapped angrily at the boys. Rebecca looked up to his face and then couldn't help but look over to the boys by the door. She felt all their eyes on her face. She had no clue who they were, they weren't from her year.

"Nothing." One of the boys said, who was smaller than the rest. He looked young and curious, and now a little afraid.

"Who's she?" Another, older braver boy spoke rudely and pointed a finger at Rebecca.

"_What_ is going on?" Another one said, looking at Draco curiously. Draco waved his hand around in the air, attached to Rebecca's which followed suit to avoid explaining.

"It's none of your business anyway, get out of here!" Draco snapped, quickly changing his mind and dropping his and Rebecca's hands back down. The boys quickly scurried away, shutting the door as they left. Draco looked back down to Rebecca for the first time. She looked tired, messy and confused.

"Sorry about that." Draco mumbled, sounding like he barely cared.

"Nosy bunch?" Rebecca asked gently.

"Probably after something." Draco said as he looked away. Rebecca didn't say anything.

"Wouldn't be very gentleman like if I didn't tell them to bugger off anyway, would it?" He quickly excused himself.

"Draco Malfoy... gentleman?" Rebecca sounded like she was joking, but of course she'd never heard of Draco being a gentleman during his time at Hogwarts. Maybe she wasn't really joking.

"Of course. I was taught well." Draco huffed. Rebecca quickly dropped it before any conflict had the opportunity to arise through the subject of their different upbringings.

Draco still looked mildly annoyed. Apparently he hadn't gotten enough sleep either. He ruffled his messy hair with his free hand.

"Do you, um... need to visit the bathroom?" Rebecca asked shyly. Draco stopped fidgeting and looked at her blankly.

"Merlin's beard. How are we going to do that?" He panicked, realising how this situation kept on becoming worse and worse.


	7. Chapter 7

The pair looked at each other full of nervous doubt.

"One of the teachers might know a charm or something?" Rebecca suggested.

"Hopefully, or... I'm not even going to go there." Draco's mind was racing. Without speaking they carefully got out of the small bed, and Draco flicked his wand to change the both of them back into their school robes. Draco opened the dorm door and they swiftly walked through the Slytherin Common Room without paying any attention to any one. As soon as they reached the corridor they started walking even faster. Rebecca had to break out into a slow jog every now and then to catch up to Draco.

Just before they reached the Great Hall, Rebecca quickly began to run her fingers through her hair as if to comb it, and Draco attempted to flatten his.

They entered the hall that fresh morning, still receiving many amused looks and snide comments from a lot of the students, which all seemed to be a lot more concentrated than the day before. Rebecca was beginning to feel her face heat up with embarrassment and was very surprised to find the faintest of pink in Draco's cheeks too. They walked the length of the Great Hall straight down the middle to reach the staff table. Draco immediately lead Rebecca straight to Professor Slughorn, the new Potions teacher, and asked him politely off to the side.

"What can I do for you both?" Slughorn asked cheerily.

"As you can see we are stuck together, and it appears there's nothing we can do about it…" Draco began.

"And we really need to go to the bathroom…" Rebecca added.

"And we were just wondering if there was anything you could provide so we wouldn't have to… you know." Draco finished, finding it hard to believe he'd ever have to ask for such a thing.

"Ah, yes, I see." Slughorn said, sounding quite amused to the two's horror.

"How about the both of you go and finish breakfast and I'll be back shortly." Professor Slughorn left the Great Hall to retrieve something he thought would be of assistance. Rebecca then somehow managed to convince Draco civilly in front of the nearby students that they should join the Gryffindor table today. It was Rebecca's turn to lead Draco to sit down amongst her friends. It was a little too obvious that everyone was steering quite clear of Draco. Between the two of them hardly anything was said over breakfast while they listened to the conversations around them.

Not fifteen minutes later, Slughorn returned to the Great Hall with one small bottle of clear liquid. Not able to get their minds off the idea of going to the bathroom, both Rebecca and Draco were feeling quite restless by now. As soon as they spotted the cheery Professor they stood up immediately and nearly ran over to him.

"This was all I could find. It's just a small potion, but it should be enough for the both of you. It will last you for about a day." Professor Slughorn explained.

"Thank you so much Professor!" Rebecca said, gratefully taking the small bottle from him.

"What exactly does it do?" Draco asked warily.

"Oh, it quite simply stops you from having to go." Slughorn said reassuringly. Rebecca raised the small bottle to her lips and drank the first half. She passed it to Draco who swirled it around a bit, looking reluctant, but then drank the rest. He passed the bottle back to Slughorn.

They thanked the Professor once more before returning back to the Gryffindor table. The potion took effect almost immediately as they both felt a massive wave of relief.

They finished breakfast in further silence and then headed off to their first lesson, which happened to be Potions. They walked into the classroom and took a seat, receiving many unfortunate looks from Pansy Parkinson, one of Draco's minions. This continued for so long that instead of just guessing what she was thinking, Rebecca swore she could almost hear it.

"Will you tell your girlfriend to stop looking?" Rebecca slurred. She suddenly felt extremely drowsy.

"She's not my girlfriend." Draco slurred back. The last thing either of them remembered was falling into each other and clashing heads on the way to slumping over the desk like they had been knocked out.

The next thing they knew they found themselves waking up in the hospital wing sharing a bed, yet again. Rebecca propped herself up a bit, realising she had quite the headache. Draco had woken up feeling the exact same, placing his free hand over his eyes to block the brightness of the room. Madam Pomfrey noticed their movements and bustled on over.

"Oh, how are you feeling dears?" She asked kindly.

"Not good." Draco replied drowsily on behalf of them both.

"Here, take this." She passed each of them a small amount of white liquid in a glass. It didn't taste like anything at all, and as soon as they had swallowed it their headaches began fading.

"...What exactly happened?" Rebecca asked Madam Pomfrey, very confused.

"Oh, you don't remember?" Madam Pomfrey asked, surprised. Rebecca and Draco looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Professor Slughorn gave each of you a potion, did he not?" They remembered that bit, and both nodded in reply.

"Yes, he brewed it up this morning in such a rush that it wasn't exactly made correctly. The only side effect was extreme drowsiness, nothing to worry about. I'd say the both of you are quite lucky, actually." She explained.

"Will the potion still work?" Draco asked.

"No, I doubt it. You might want to go and see Professor Slughorn again. And tell him to be more careful this time." She advised.

"Madam Pomfrey?" Rebecca asked just as she turned away, "How long have we been here?"

"Only a couple of hours. It's lunch time now." She said, checking her wrist watch.

"When can we get out of here?" Draco asked in a rude tone.

"In about an hour. I want to keep an eye on you." She replied before returning back inside her small office. As soon as she was out of earshot Draco said,

"We should go and see Snape when we get out of here, this is just stupid."

"Do you actually think he would let us go?" Rebecca asked.

"Probably not. At least he'll know how… painful this is. He couldn't possibly do anything worse."

They spent their remaining time in the hospital wing looking through quidditch magazines they had found on a nightstand next to their bed. Eventually the hour was up and Madam Pomfrey opened the door to her office,

"You're free to leave now." She said calmly. Rebecca and Draco were out of there within seconds. Coincidently they had Defence Against the Dark Arts now, as they had missed lunch. They did resort to a normal walking pace this time, both their minds still caught up in quidditch.

"Are you going to play quidditch this year? I've never seen you on the team." Draco asked Rebecca.

"I was thinking I might try out this year. What about you?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah. I'll go for seeker again this year."

"Of course. I don't know what I want to play… it would have to be either a chaser or a beater."

"I think you would be quite alright at those. I've seen you fly." He said it like it was fact.

"Oh," Rebecca was surprised at this, but managed to smile at him. She was, in fact a very good flyer. Madam Hooch had told her she was a natural in her first year at Hogwarts. She aced her flying lessons.

"But I won't tell you any more, or I'd probably be favouring your team." He smiled back. Rebecca was still surprised by how well Draco had been treating her.

"My team? I'm not even on the team."

"Not yet. Who's your captain this year?" He asked as they approached the classroom door.

"Harry." Rebecca answered just as Draco was about to open the door.

"Potter?" He almost yelled in disbelief, pushing open the door with a bit more force than necessary.

"Malfoy and Whyte!" Professor Snape snapped. Unfortunately it appeared that somebody had already put him in a foul mood. No expression was readable on either of the two's faces as they were taken by surprise. They walked straight up to Snape's desk at the front of the room.

"Why are you two so late?" Snape hissed.

"Sorry, Sir, we were knocked out in the hospital wing." Rebecca spoke first.

"Can you please reverse this, Professor?" Draco asked, straight to the point, and raised their hands.

"Why should I? You disrupt my class every time you walk in." He retorted, looking down his long hooked nose at them.

"We went to the trouble to research it, Professor, and there's nothing we can do our self." Rebecca said quickly. Snape narrowed his eyes at the perfect opportunity before him.

"Now, seeing as you tried to get out of your punishment yourselves," He started, and they felt a hard, tingly sensation in their hands. Rebecca gasped and they both looked down at their hands as though they expected to see something.

"I think I might renew this little spell. Another two days."

"What?" Rebecca whispered, horrified.

"That is preposterous !" Draco sneered.

"Watch it!" Snape said warningly, "Go and take your seats. Mr McGregor, move next to Mr Weasley please." Rebecca and Draco turned to watch him move, and then took their seats where Malfoy usually sat, defeated. At least they didn't have to share a seat this time.


	8. Chapter 8

Rebecca and Draco managed to sit through the rest of Snape's lesson without making a noise, and once it was over, left in a huff. They went through the rest of the day's classes, extremely annoyed and spoke to almost no one, except for each other and that was only to take out their frustration on Snape whenever they had the chance.

They sat at the Gryffindor table again for dinner. Rebecca told everyone what had happened that morning and that they were stuck for even longer now. Nobody was really brave enough to ask where they had spent the night. A lot of suspicion, theories and even worry had been tossed around the Gryffindor Common Room while Rebecca had been absent the night before.

Draco appeared to be having staring competitions with his food. Every couple of minutes Rebecca turned to him with interest, wondering when his expression was going to change. Then Fred and George joined the Gryffindors and sat directly opposite Rebecca and Draco.

"We heard the pair of you passed out in Potions with Slughorn." George began.

"What did he _show_ you?" Fred asked with sincere interest.

"He didn't show us anything. He gave us a potion, but it wasn't done correctly." Rebecca replied.

"A potion? What for?" George asked curiously.

"It doesn't matter." Rebecca stated as though it was a command.

"We can only guess then." The twins said together, smiling mischievously.

"How are you feeling now?" George asked. Draco finally looked up from his food to see the twins.

"Fine. I don't remember much." Rebecca answered simply.

"And you Draco?" They asked together, looking as though they were about to burst out laughing.

"What?" Draco asked as though they were speaking another language.

"How are you feeling?" The twins asked him again.

"What does it matter to you?" He sneered.

"We heard about the two of you in Potions." They said together. Draco opened his mouth to say something, but before he had the chance Rebecca stomped on his foot to prevent him.

"Fine." He muttered instead. The twins grinned at him gloriously and he resorted back to watching his food.

After Dinner the unlikely pair headed back to the Slytherin Common Room once more. They sat down on the same black leather couch as they had done the previous night. Draco told off anyone who came too close. Soon enough it was time for bed. They were still dreadfully tired from the night before, and left for Draco's dorm much earlier.

They lay awake in bed for a long time, and could eventually hear the soft sounds of the other boys sleeping.

"Malfoy?" Rebecca asked quietly, wondering if he was still awake or not.

"You don't want to swap sides already, do you?" He asked. Rebecca grinned, but it was too dark for Draco to know.

"No, not yet. I was just wondering…" She faded off in thought without realising.

"Yes…?" Draco asked, reminding her that he was still waiting for the rest.

"Don't take any offence to this… but you change. Like now, when it's only us two."

"What?" He queried, not entirely sure where she was headed, or that he wanted to hear what she was saying at all.

"When we're in the Common Room or the Great Hall, somewhere where there are lots of people, you're just like everyone expects. Tough, rude, superior…

"But then when it's just us two, like now, or in the hospital wing today, you're completely different."

"Different?" Draco asked warily, being caught unaware of what she had noticed.

"Yeah, different. You're a Malfoy I didn't think even existed, you're… nice I guess, and even 'gentleman like'. I've even seen you laugh and smile." What followed was a long silence. Rebecca quickly broke it, "Malfoy?"

"Yeah?" He replied in a softer voice.

"Well?" She asked him.

"… I don't know…" He said slowly like he was thinking it all over.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I don't know," He said again. Rebecca turned to face him.

"_Don't take any offence to this,_" Draco mimicked, "But you never change. I see you with your friends and you're always laughing and having fun and you make life look so easy and enjoyable." Draco took Rebecca completely by surprise, and wondered if he had felt that way a moment ago too.

"Okay… Why do you change then?" She asked, wondering at the same time how he'd noticed here with her friends.

"I don't know. It just happens. I think... I think I want to fit in with someone who's always happy."

"Why aren't you always happy?" Rebecca asked him as she anxiously fingered the edge of the covers in anticipation.

"Because I'm a Malfoy, and a Slytherin, and I've got a reputation. I'm naturally not supposed to be happy, and that's how it's always been." He said hastily, unsure of why he just told her what he did. Rebecca hadn't expected that answer. She couldn't understand where he was coming from because his upbringing was unfamiliar territory to her. She didn't know what to say, and as a result stayed silent for a long time, and so did he.

"Whyte?" Draco asked after the long silence.

"Yeah?"

"Whatever I said always stays between us, right?" He asked nervously, realising he had to trust her.

"Yeah, sure." She assured him, herself realising what he was doing. Another column of silence embraced them.

"Thanks." Draco whispered after a long time, and the both of them drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Are you awake yet?" Rebecca heard Draco ask, not daring to touch her. Her eyes fluttered open to find him staring. He propped himself up onto one elbow.

"I feel like a shower, how about you?" He asked confidently.

"What?" Rebecca said hesitantly, propping herself up to meet him.

"Don't worry, I've been thinking about it." He assured her.

"You dirty basta-" Rebecca began, but Draco cut her off quickly,

"No! I've been thinking of a way that we can do it." He corrected her. She narrowed her eyes, "How?"

"Come on, I'll show you." He said as he dragged her out of bed and over to the bathroom connected to the dorm. Rebecca quickly got a grip on the door frame and said, "I'd much rather you showed me first!" He sighed.

"I'm only going to change us into swimmers."

"Oh." Rebecca answered dully and released the door frame. She shut the door behind them and locked it. Draco flicked his wand and Rebecca found herself to be wearing a blue bikini she owned, and Draco in a pair of green board shorts. Draco smirked, and Rebecca felt awfully self conscious and wished that Draco stopped looking at her so indecently much faster than he had.

They stepped into the shower and ran the water. All of a sudden Rebecca was splashed with a big hit of freezing cold water. She let out a scream of surprise and jumped out from under the water, being forced to press up against Malfoy because of the small size of the shower. He looked at the water and then her, confusion spread on his face.

"It's freezing!" She shouted, answering his questionable expression. He started laughing, and Rebecca's shocked expression softened into a smile. There was loud thumping on the bathroom door.

"Malfoy, what's going on in there?" Someone yelled from outside. The pair looked at each other, amused.

"Nothing, mind your own business!" Draco yelled out in reply. There was no answer after that. While Draco wasn't expecting, Rebecca pushed him under the cold water. He half cursed and quickly adjusted the taps. He turned to Rebecca with a playful look and shook his head.

They eventually got out of the shower and Draco stepped out first. When Rebecca followed, she slipped on the cold tiled floor. Before she found the ground Draco's free arm had wrapped around her waist and held her up.

"You can't take me down that easily." He said, and Rebecca replied with a small grateful smile. They dried off and Draco changed them back into their school robes. They checked themselves in the mirror before they left, and when the other wasn't looking, watched each other fiddle with their hair. Draco's didn't take long to dry. Rebecca's was left hanging limp and wet for a while. When it was nearly dry, it looked much more live and healthy, her blonde waves flowing over her shoulders.

"I didn't know your hair could look like that." Draco suddenly spoke. Rebecca looked at him in the mirror to see him admiring it. She noticed her cheeks burning a faint pink, and when Draco noticed he shyly looked away. When they finally decided they were ready, they left for breakfast in the Great Hall.


	9. Chapter 9

Fortunately for Draco, it was Slytherin table's turn that the pair were going to sit at. They sat down in the exact same place as last time, and Rebecca assumed it was Draco's usual seat where no one else ever sat. It was Draco's turn to talk to all his mates now, and Rebecca's turn to have staring competitions with her food. Draco was oblivious to becoming just the usual Draco in public now.

He was being so utterly horrible; the way he would talk about some people, Rebecca almost thought he would have been more than happy to publicly humiliate her then and there. But the whole time, it seemed as though he wouldn't dare say anything about her or her direct friends at all.

For a moment Rebecca actually considered that Fred and George might have actually slipped him something, though she couldn't see how. Draco was nice and fun before, but she was now experiencing 'the real Malfoy', again.

It turned out that 'the real Malfoy' was a lot worse than Rebecca thought. She actually had never heard anything _this _bad, not even from the Gryffindors. Draco and his minions were hating on other students, even younger Slytherins. Hearing the sort of things they were saying made Rebecca's heart sink very, very low. She didn't have the courage to stand up for anyone they mentioned, not even loyal Hufflepuffs. It almost made her sick to think about it. Though, she soon realised that Draco sparked none of it. He was fitting in with his friends who expected this kind of behaviour from him.

Even with this realisation, Rebecca still couldn't help but think that she probably should have listened to the Weasley twins in the first place. Breakfast was finally over, and Rebecca gloated at the idea of having to stay with Draco when he and his minions were a few of the last to leave. When his minions finally left him, Rebecca dragged him off to the side in one of the corridors on their way to their first class of the day, Charms.

"What?" Draco asked quite casually.

"_What_?" Rebecca repeated in disbelief, "_You're_ what!" She snapped, raising her voice, which she hadn't done to him before.

"What? Why? I haven't done anything!" He protested, sounding just like a small child who was getting in trouble.

"Really, _nothing_ at all? Because _nothing_ has definitely done enough!"

"Listen, if this is about just before-" He started.

"No, you listen! I was sitting right next to you in there, and I heard every little thing you said! You are a low, two-faced git, just like the twins said!"

"What, the Weasels? I never said anything about them, or any of your little golden friends! What does any of it matter to _you_?" Draco also began to raise his voice.

"That's just one of your problems! You just seem to think that you can prance around and say whatever you bloody want! You can't say those things. About _anybody._ I could make one exception though, for your bloody Slytherin pricks that you call your friends, who are even _worse!_" Rebecca shouted reasonably loud.

"Don't tell me my friends speak badly, when I am _positive _that yours do too!" He yelled defensively.

"Everyone speaks badly, but not _that _bad or to that extent! You disgust me, Malfoy. You actually disgust me. I was going to say that maybe we should enjoy each other's company for these couple of days! We were having fun, weren't we? I mean, when else have we ever talked to each other? Before now, I'd never seen you smile more than once when you were happy. And I never thought I'd be one in this situation where I'd have to be so close to you, share the same bed as you, let alone have a shower with you! And all the while I was laughing, and so were you. But then _you _have to go and ruin it all, just to prove yourself to your minions. I should have known better, because you're a Malfoy, and a Slytherin, and you've got a _horrible_, reputation." Rebecca said with quite a hushed voice now, and she felt her eyes begin to water. She felt horrible, for herself, but also Draco. She looked at him for a long time, waiting for him to fight back, but he never did. Instead, he looked straight back at her.

He could really see how upset she was with him. He'd never made someone that upset and had to deal with it personally. It almost wanted to make him burst. He felt so angry at what she had just said, but he couldn't believe how terribly bad he felt because he knew she was right. He could now see how much she appeared to understand him. Nobody had ever defended themselves from him like that before. She had left him with nothing else to say. It left a big impact on him. She had won the last say from him before he knew it.

"Let's go." She mumbled almost inaudibly and urged him to continue into charms. They entered to find they had a relief teacher today, Professor Trelawney, instead of Professor Flitwick. They were a bit late as usual. They arrived while she was trying to explain something, and sat down at one of the closest desks. She looked at the pair for a split second to see who had wandered in late, but proceeded to have a double take and froze mid sentence.

She stared at Rebecca and Draco for a few seconds. She ended up walking over to them, without taking her eyes off of them once. The whole class watched her curiously in silence.

"Put your hands on the desk." She instructed with a voice that sounded like she was on cloud nine. They put their stuck hands on the table, Rebecca hoping that she might talk to the other teachers about this unlikely punishment. Trelawney placed both of her hands on top of theirs.

Draco flinched. He despised Professor Trelawney along with his Slytherin friends, and that was exactly the reason he ever dropped Divination. Draco refrained himself from saying any smart remarks because of the incident with Rebecca moments ago.

As the whole class waited for anything interesting to happen, Rebecca looked down to avoid anyone seeing that she had been upset.

"You two have an interesting relationship." Rebecca frowned without looking back up, and Draco looked at Trelawney with disgust. He still didn't know if he should be mad at Rebecca, or forgive her. But she was still right. His mind was ticking like clockwork, and having a teacher he disliked who was telling him about his relationship with her was the last thing he needed. His frustration was building.

"It is hard to tell what is going to happen, even in the near future. There are many obstacles." She started.

"I don't need some nutter to tell me what my futures like!" Malfoy spat at her quite rudely without thinking. She stayed silent for a minute.

"You will forgive each other." She said as she finally let go of their hands.

"Never." Rebecca scoffed, surprised and disheartened at the way Draco treated Professor Trelawney. Malfoy forcefully dragged their hands off the table. Trelawney returned to the front of the class, "Forgive me students," And she continued babbling on about whatever it was that she was explaining before.

"Never is a long time, Whyte." Malfoy whispered, probably a little hurt, though he refused to accept it.

"Never is a _very_ long time, Malfoy." Rebecca emphasized harshly.

Soon enough they were out of Charms and headed for Defence Against the Dark Arts. Rebecca refused to talk to Draco. Every time he tried to speak she would simply ignore him and look the other way. Rebecca had no idea what he was trying to say, he'd stop after two or three words every time because he could see that she wasn't paying any attention to him.

Rebecca heard him let out a loud, frustrated sigh as he forced her to stop walking.

"Listen to me!" Draco snapped loudly. Rebecca turned to face him without saying a word, feeling taken aback, but tried not to let it show her vulnerability towards him.

"We may as well make some peace between us now; we've still got two days left!" He said pointedly.

"I'm not making any noise. Why don't you try it? And I don't think we quite have two days left either!" She responded quickly.

"What do you mean we don't quite have two days left? Of course we do." Draco frowned.

"We might. But we're going to ask Snape to let us go, first thing!"

"There's no way he would. We already tried that, and look where it got us! I thought you said we should enjoy this time we have together." He started to raise his voice, and Rebecca followed suit,

"I thought we were, but like I said, you ruined it!" She reminded him.

"Did I now? I'm sure you're perfect then!"

"Why are you so bloody frustrated?" Rebecca yelled at him, "Were you having fun? Is that why you ruined it? Before you got caught smiling?" Draco didn't say anything, but Rebecca was sure there were glowing embers in the pit of his stomach.

"Why do you keep making it as though I was the only one?" Draco asked, fuming.

"Would you like me to yell at your filthy friends too?" Rebecca retorted hastily.

"Look who's speaking badly of others now." He spat, with no raised voice. Rebecca sighed, almost giving up.

"Why can't you be the other Malfoy all the time?" She asked calmly.

"I've already told you, and you've told me. That's not me. I can't, even if I wanted to be." He stated firmly. They glared at each other before continuing to Defence Against the Dark Arts. It was only then that both of them realised how many people had stopped to listen to their arguing. Students who were aware of their situation were beginning to think that Draco had finally met his match; especially Draco himself, and this had him quite worried.

They weren't late for Defence Against the Dark Arts this time; the classroom might not have even been quite half full yet. Snape was sitting at his desk at the front. The angry and upset pair walked straight up to him. As they approached, Snape put down his quill and stood up, ready for whatever he had coming.  
"What do you want?" He asked dully.

"Can you _please_ reverse the spell?" Rebecca asked calmly.

"Why would you think I would do that, you still have-"

"_PLEASE_, Professor." Rebecca cut him off, catching his eye. He looked at Rebecca for a moment, and then flicked his gaze to Draco who was looking the other way. He came back to look into Rebecca's eyes and stayed there for a few seconds longer until Rebecca thought it strange. He gave a sigh, and Rebecca thought he must sense tension between the two; when in fact she was oblivious to what Snape was doing to her.

"It will hurt." He said, as though asking for approval from Rebecca, as Draco still wasn't looking at him. She nodded once. He muttered a small spell neither of them had never heard, and felt strong pains in the back of their hands which forced them to clench their fists tightly. Rebecca let out a small whimper as the last of the class took their seats.

Very slowly their hands peeled apart. Before Rebecca even had the chance to look at them, she felt Draco's hand take hers and squeeze it gently. She looked up to see him staring at the floor in front of him, and the look on his face was unbelievable. He looked sorry. Rebecca was legitimately shocked and all expressions fell from her face. Draco quickly let go before shifting his gaze.

Rebecca then had the chance to look at her hand. She raised it up to find the entire back of it was covered in black, blue and purple bruises. She saw Draco's was too.

She turned around to see the rest of the class was watching in interest. She walked down the middle back to her seat next to Ron. She missed her friends. She had barely seen them since they all returned for this term. She looked up to the front of the classroom to see Draco still standing there. Snape was talking to him quietly. She couldn't hear them, but she could see the whole class flicking their gaze between Draco and herself. All she could do was look down feeling embarrassed… and maybe even guilty.


	10. Chapter 10

Rebecca felt as though she was counting down the seconds until Defence Against the Dark Arts was over. When Snape finally dismissed the class, she was one of the first out of the room. Hermione and Parvati Patil (who also shared Rebecca's dorm) who had been in the last class caught up with her quickly, full of questions as they headed for break. The three of them reached the courtyard and Rebecca sat down absent mindedly.

"Ladies, ladies," She heard one familiar voice call.

"Let the professionals handle this one." She heard another identical voice say. Rebecca looked up to see the Weasley twins. Hermione started to protest when Fred turned around and said,

"_We've got it._" Quite sternly, which was unlike him.

"Nobody's got it." Rebecca mumbled, but no one noticed. Hermione began talking to Fred quite heatedly when Harry and Ron, who had also witnessed the previous lesson, came and stood around too.

"How did you get Snape to reverse that spell?" Ron cut in.

"I said please." Rebecca replied bluntly.

"What did Malfoy do to upset you?" George asked, cutting straight to the chase. Rebecca wondered how he knew it was Draco who had upset her.

"Nothing, he's just... so two-faced!" She tried to explain without giving anything away. She felt that all the things that had happened between her and Draco were private. That, and she didn't feel like talking all that much. She did sort of promise Draco that she wouldn't say anything. But that was before their argument.

"Care to tell more?" George said funnily, batting his eyelashes. Rebecca looked at all of her friends and tried to explain again,

"Malfoy is just so annoyingly arrogant, rude and thinks he's so superior and all the rest, but while we were stuck together he was completely different. For starters, he let me fall asleep on his shoulder, and then when we fell out of bed-"

"Bed? You slept together?" Ron cut her off.

"They were stuck together, Ronald! They obviously had to sleep, it's acceptable really," Hermione replied for Rebecca, scrunching up her nose towards the end. She had taken everyone by surprise and everyone fell quiet. For someone who hated Draco as much as the rest of them, she was being rather logical.

"Sorry, keep going." Hermione quickly ushered Rebecca and then folded her arms.

"We had to do everything together. I mean _everything._ It lead to lots of talking, and all our hate set aside, we got along quite well. He was really different." Rebecca explained, thinking that should be enough. Nobody spoke; they all knew that wasn't the end of it, so waited for the rest. Rebecca quickly got the hint and kept talking.

"In the Great Hall this morning he was just normal Malfoy again, because so many people were around, and his friends were saying some _really_ horrible things, so he was too, and then we kept fighting and Snape let us go straight away, it was all so weird! I'm... I'm actually a little scared to know where we stand after everything that's happened these past few days." Rebecca said all so fast. Hermione frowned, unable to understand why Rebecca seemed to be so worried. Rebecca should be glad she was able to finally escape Draco.

"It's alright, it's only Malfoy." Harry said, speaking for the first time. "He's a git, and should be left alone."

This sparked conversation a lot more easily, as Ron joined in and even Parvati as they all started talking about how Draco could be such a bad person. This left Rebecca to think a little more.

She wasn't sure where herself and Draco stood because of all the things they had said to one another. Draco never answered her. But he tried to make peace with her. Rebecca wondered why he would even bother to try and be peaceful with what she thought he perceived her as: a grimy half-blood Gryffindor. A person like that would be just about the last person on earth a Malfoy would want to associate with.

And then he squeezed her hand. She thought he meant he was sorry... but even then, he still didn't say anything. She knew that herself and Draco were on bad terms. She didn't know what to expect the next time they met, probably ignorant silence. Everyone was right; she should be glad she was free and she should drop it. But the thing was, she could still see straight through Draco's facade, especially now that he had opened up to her a little bit over the last few days. Draco was just so damn fascinating, and Rebecca just couldn't drop it. She hadn't been able to drop it for years.

As everybody continued to talk badly of Draco, Rebecca hardly listened as she looked off absent mindedly across the court yard. Suddenly it wasn't quite so absent minded, as Draco was walking past.

She watched him cross the other side of the courtyard silently and all by himself. He was never alone. Whatever Hermione was saying to Fred at that moment seemed even more distanced. Draco slowed his pace before stopping and looking at the ground. Rebecca realised that's where their target had been from the game they played whilst being stuck together. She watched as he kicked a small stone with all his force, which rebounded off the stone wall encasing the courtyard and landed in front of him on the target. Rebecca was too far away to see exactly where it had landed, but she did see him smirk and shake his head. He then left the courtyard quite swiftly. As he did, Rebecca could see his bruised hand, which looked odd on him; such an imperfection to his usual stature, and wondered if it was hurting as much as her own.

Rebecca zoned back in, looking up to all her friends. They all seemed to be having an in depth conversation and Rebecca heard the name Malfoy come up frequently. As they were all clearly absorbed in each other, Rebecca gently slid off the stone bench where she was seated and walked rather quickly over to the target. She stood still and looked over it for a minute, inspecting it. Then she thought she spotted what Draco must have found so amusing.

Rebecca saw the small stone he had kicked had split in two. She could see it had vaguely been in the shape of a lopsided heart, but it was now split quite unevenly. The larger half was rested right on target, in the middle. The other smaller half was right next to the first half, although it was in the next ring, a line separating the two halves.

Rebecca gently shuffled the smaller half across the line with her foot until it met the larger half, so they were fitting together perfectly. She stared at it for a minute, until the twins suddenly appeared behind her only to scare the living day lights out of her. She naturally kicked the cracked stone off to the side of the target, and spun around.

"Do you two follow me everywhere or what?" She asked while crossing her arms playfully, her heart racing as though she'd been caught doing something that she shouldn't have.

"Or what." They replied together. Rebecca let a small smile appear on her face in amusement.

"What are you doing over here all by yourself?" Fred asked.

"Just thinking." She answered quickly.

"We'll believe that. Where did that target come from?" George asked, pointing to the target behind her.

"I don't know." Rebecca shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay. We just wanted to know why it's so good to look at." Fred also shrugged. Rebecca thought he was mocking her. She didn't say anything, and started searching the ground for the cracked stone instead.

"You know, we did see Malfoy over here a minute ago too." Fred said in a matter-of-fact like tone. Rebecca glanced at them and just shrugged again. Then she saw the cracked stone on the ground, gasped and quickly picked it up and shoved both halves deep into her pocket.

"What was that?" George asked, the both of them eyeing her suspiciously.

"I dropped a coin a minute ago." She lied quickly. They narrowed their eyes towards her, and before they questioned her anymore she quickly left them and walked back to everyone by the stone bench who were now sitting down and engaged in a more pleasant conversation. Rebecca didn't know why she had been so secretive about the target, or the cracked stone.

"Hey, Bec, just to let you know we're having quidditch try outs tomorrow afternoon straight after school down on the pitch. Okay?" Harry informed her.

"Yeah, that's great." She replied enthusiastically at the change of conversation. Then she leaned over to Hermione and asked,

"Do you know what we have next?"

"We have Potions and Charms." She said quickly before turning back to her conversation with Ron. Rebecca just wished the day would end a lot faster than what it was.


	11. Chapter 11

After break Rebecca, Hermione, Harry and Ron all wandered off to Potions. They arrived to find Professor Slughorn bustling everyone into the classroom like a shepherd. They were slightly disheartened to discover that Gryffindors shared this class with Slytherins. They followed the new Professor in and closed the door behind them.

Harry had met Professor Slughorn prior to the commencement of term, and had filled Hermione, Ron and Rebecca in on the way to their first Potions class. Apparently he was a very friendly and welcoming fellow who had been a Professor at Hogwarts many years ago. Rebecca recalled approaching him with Draco, who seemed to know him, and remembered how cheery he was. Rebecca couldn't help but feel that he was slightly unreliable after the slight potion complication she had experienced.

The four of them occupied a table near the front of the room. All the other tables around the room were full, and Rebecca noticed Draco seated at one on the other side of the room with Blaise Zabini. Rebecca and Draco both missed majority of the first lesson, and so avoided the useless time Slughorn would have spent introducing himself and explaining potions to a near sleeping class.

"Okay now, today you all will be receiving your assignments." Slughorn said cheerily and the majority of the class groaned.

"This time, however, you will be doing it with a partner." He continued, and many of the students started talking amongst themselves and choosing partners.

"Now, now, you will not be choosing your partners. I have already written down who your partners are to be. This is because I would generally like to mix up the class; you can make more friends, get to know each other better!" He smiled broadly as the class stared back at him in horror. He continued with reading out the names he had matched on a sheet of organised parchment. Nearly everyone was paired up with someone who would have most likely been the last one on their own list. When Slughorn read out the names Malfoy and Whyte together, Rebecca almost dared not move. She slowly felt her cheeks heat up and buried her face in her hands. She couldn't believe how unfortunate her luck had become so early in the year. After Slughorn had finished pairing everyone up he told them to go and sit with their partner.

Rebecca looked over her shoulder to see Draco looking at her blankly, perhaps just as horrified. He definitely wasn't going to move. Rebecca sighed and got up, and unhappily slumped into the chair next to him.

"Whyte." He greeted her the same way he had always done. Rebecca didn't say anything, but looked at him as though she was acknowledging his presence. They then both turned to face Slughorn when he started to explain the assignment.

"Now as you know, at the moment we are looking at the topic 'potions, symptoms and cures'. I assume that you all remember the four potions we discussed in our very first class this year?" And Hermione's hand was in the air within the second.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"Veritaserum, Polyjuice potion, Amortentia and Felix Felicis."

"That's absolutely right, well done! Now this assignment will be worth half of your final mark, and all together will take around eight months, because in your pairs you will be making each of these potions. Yes, for each one you will have to brew the potion, sample it and recognize the symptoms, and then find an antidote. You will have to turn in a final report together at the due date. Your report will include the ingredients used, methods and results. Simple, everybody understand?" Most of the class was just finishing writing down the notes they were taking. Slughorn continued, "You will have two months for each potion, but there are set dates, so don't worry about getting your timing right too much." He laughed, alone. "The first potion you will be making is Amortentia, the most powerful love potion in the world. For this one you must remember, and include this in your report, Amortentia does not create love, nor does any other potion, but it will only create a strong obsession.

"Your final report will be due two months from today, and we will not be doing anything of the sort in class. However, I am giving you the rest of this lesson to start planning, so use it well. Go on, then. Off you go!" Slughorn finished. Now all Rebecca could think, over and over again, was that she would be doing an eight month project with Draco. She would be spending _eight months_ with Draco. The only positive objective she could find in this situation was that at least they weren't _physically_ stuck together.

"When are we going to do this?" Draco interrupted Rebecca's repetitive thoughts.

"Um," She tried gathering her thoughts. He gave her a questionable look, suggesting that it was up to her when and where they were going to do this project.

"W-well we could go to the library two or three times a week after school?" She stuttered, scared for the fact that they were being forced to talk to one another.

"Fine. What days?"

"How's Monday, Wednesday, Friday?" She suggested, giving a shrug. He agreed, and for the rest of the period they studied the potion from the same text book.

Just as the class was dismissed, Draco tapped Rebecca on the shoulder.

"Today _is_ Wednesday. Will I meet you in the library after school?" He asked incredibly plainly.

"Uh, yes." She nodded. He nodded once and left without another word, leaving her frowning.

She wondered what was going through his head. He was acting so simple, almost as though they had never interacted in their life and he was prepared for business only. Even though the rest of the day flew by, it seemed as though every five minutes Rebecca found herself thinking about Draco.

As soon as Rebecca was dismissed from her final lesson of the day, she gathered the necessary books and slowly made her way to the library. She entered the library and sat at an empty desk, and began revising all the notes she had taken in the Potions lesson earlier today. She could hear the clock ticking by, and glanced at it from time to time.

As minute after minute went by, she soon realised she had been sitting all by herself for almost forty-five minutes. She decided to look over the potion once more in the text book.

She looked over at the clock once again. She had now been there for an hour, and she wasn't going to wait any longer. She honestly would have had better things to be doing than memorizing a bloody love potion, of all things.

She gathered her things from the table and left the library. About half way on her journey back to Gryffindor tower, she heard fast footsteps. She wasn't entirely sure of where they were coming from. Just as she was stepped into a cross section in the corridor, she figured out a little too late where the footsteps were coming from.

"Woah!" Was all she heard before a larger body crashed into hers, sending the both of them rebounding off of each other. Books and parchment were strewn everywhere.

"Whyte!" She sat herself up to see Draco sitting on the floor across from her, looking a little dazed and dreary, and awfully tired.

"About time you decided to show up." Rebecca mumbled, very annoyed.

"Where are you going?" Malfoy asked, appearing a little confused.

"Common Room. You?" She retorted as though it was obvious.

"Well, the library. Isn't that where you're meant to be?"

"It's where you were meant to be an hour ago." Rebecca answered smartly, and started crawling around and picking up any books and parchment within her reach.

"I know, I was held up." He replied, taking notice of what Rebecca was doing and began to pick things up as well.

"Held up doing what?" She asked angrily.

"I was just… held up." He sounded very hesitant.

"You already said that!" She started raising my voice, sick of Draco's unclear answers already.

"It was just Snape, that's all!" He snapped, slamming a book down on top of a pile he had made on the floor.

"Well the least you could have done was let me know! It is a project we are supposed to be doing _together_." Rebecca shouted, copying Draco's actions.

"Well, I'm sorry! Okay? It wasn't that important anyway." He said, slumping back onto the floor and rubbing his eyes. Rebecca scooped up the last of the parchment from the floor and retreated back to sit by her own pile.

"Are…are you okay?" She asked quietly, half hoping he didn't hear her.

"Fine." He snapped, letting out a sigh. He sat with his arms wrapped around his knees, staring at the floor. As Rebecca looked at him a little closer in the fading light, she noticed the deep bags under his eyes, and his eyes looked glazed over as though he had been upset. He looked vulnerable, sitting in the middle of an empty corridor the way he was.

"What did Snape want?" Rebecca asked in a gentle voice, almost empathetic. Draco looked up at her from under his eyelashes.

"It… It doesn't matter." He tried reassuring her.

"You don't have me convinced." Rebecca said, folding her arms. He looked up at her properly, and Rebecca was sure he had been upset. This left her dumbfounded.

Draco could see the surprise in her face. He could hear the concern in her voice. He could feel the way that she knew him now. This made him forget, and it made him a little bit happier that he thought someone outside his world might care without knowing.

"Will we go to the library tomorrow afternoon instead?" He asked, raising his eyebrows in fear that she would reject him.

"Sorry, I can't. The Gryffindor quidditch try outs are tomorrow." She informed him, sending him a small smile when she remembered how he had once encouraged her to try out.

"Oh, right. Good luck, I suppose. You'll probably make it anyway if Potter's the captain." He answered dully, feeling a little let down.

"Thanks?" Rebecca wasn't sure if he had meant to compliment her or not. Draco pressed his lips into a thin line, unsure of what he had meant either and hoped he hadn't offended her. Rebecca turned back to the pile of books and parchment she had constructed and sorted the ones that belonged to her from his. She stood up and handed him his things and he returned hers.

"I'll see you in the library on Friday then." He said.

"No excuses." Rebecca said firmly, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth. He nodded and they walked their separate ways without another word.

Rebecca didn't tell anyone about Draco's slip, and the next day was gone in a blink of the eye. Rebecca had just entered the Gryffindor Common Room, set out for her quidditch gear. She quickly got changed, grabbed her old broomstick and headed down to the quidditch pitch. By the time she got there, there was already quite a few Gryffindors ranging from second year to seventh, and an audience in the stands.

In all honesty, the try outs were hardly bearable. Half the second years were terrible flyers, the seventh years nearly seemed to kill themselves, and to top it all off there were even girls from the other houses. Harry was struggling with all the 'Chosen One' business. It took all afternoon, and by the time it was all over Rebecca felt badly for poor Harry.

As the afternoon came to an end, the audience in the stands slowly faded away. Rebecca would have liked to have thought it was because of the slight chill that had started to set in, but she opted for their boredom, and giving up themselves instead.

Harry had set up a few simple trials such as flying around the pitch, for starters. The chasers had to split into teams and get the quaffle from one end of the pitch to the other, while dodging bludgers. This ruled out the majority of the more inexperienced people within a short time.

The beaters had to hit the bludgers at targets and practice by going up and down the pitch, and the keepers of course had to block any goals. Both of these trials ruled out a lot of people on the signup sheet.

In the end Harry had finally found himself the new Gryffindor quidditch team; Harry himself as the seeker, Ron Weasley was very surprised to find himself as the keeper, Fred and George as the beaters and Katie Bell, Demelza Robins and Rebecca as the chasers.

Harry was quite pleased with his new team. They were going to have a lot of fun, and it was very exciting for Rebecca because it was her first time representing Gryffindor in the sport.

When the new Gryffindor quidditch team reached the Common Room after a long afternoon, they were all swamped by spectators from earlier and friends alike, receiving slaps on the back and many congratulations. The evening was full of celebration and lots of confetti, but it all ended quite soon when everyone had to leave for dinner. After that it was just a casual evening like any other day.

Rebecca had a dream that night. She wasn't sure if it was good or bad, or if it meant anything or not. It was quite simple, almost like a still picture. It was on the quidditch pitch, and she remembered there being herself and the rest of the new Gryffindor team. They were playing Slytherin, although she couldn't say who the team members were. She knew for sure who the one was flying around the pitch besides Harry. It was Draco.

It was an ordinary quidditch match, the sun shining high in the sky and the crowd cheering for their chosen teams. It seemed as though they were about half way through the match, and as Rebecca passed off the quaffle to one of her fellow team mates, it seemed as though she was forced to make eye contact with Draco. They were hovering on the same level, although he was about halfway down the pitch. His face was plastered with an unreadable expression while all the buzz and excitement of her surroundings slowly faded away and Draco was all she could see.

All of a sudden Rebecca's surroundings returned when she heard numerous voices yell out her name in what sounded like fear, and maybe even a scream or two as the emotion on Malfoy's face turned into panic. She felt as though she was slipping away.

Rebecca sat up straight away, quite startled with the impression that she was falling. She held her breath for a moment, realised she had woken up and then breathed out heavily. She looked around the dorm. She was the last one there. She slid out of bed and got dressed. She skipped down the stairs two at a time, glorious as the excitement of her new hobby hadn't worn off yet, and just as she landed in the Common Room,

"BOO!" She screamed and quickly slapped her hands over her mouth. The Weasley twins had been standing on either side of the bottom of the stairs, behind the wall so she couldn't see them, waiting for her. They were laughing.

"That was not funny." Rebecca demanded, her heart racing as she stepped on one of their feet.

"Hey!" Fred yelped as he pulled his foot out from under hers. They joked as the three of them left for breakfast in the Great Hall.

They walked through the giant oak doors to see owls flying around the huge room delivering letters, parcels and newspapers. As they were making their way to the Gryffindor table they heard a loud screech. All of a sudden Rebecca felt something small but hard hit her in the back of the head. She turned around to see a couple of letters at her feet, as well as an extremely small, ordinary grey owl. It was Lucy.

Lucy was Rebecca's mother's very young Scops Owl, still in the process of being trained. It had only just begun to get the mail where it was supposed to go. At least it wasn't as bad as the Weasleys' owl, Errol. Errol was surely the most stupid owl on record. Errol had followed Lucy into the back of George.

Amidst the small amount of laughter around them, Fred, George and Rebecca picked up their mail. George picked up Errol and Lucy, unprofessionally, ran along the ground behind Rebecca. This was why Rebecca liked the owl so much.

They continued to the Gryffindor table and sat amongst their friends. Lucy then decided to fly up and sit in front of Rebecca, demanding some toast. Rebecca fed her as she sorted through her mail.

She had received two letters this morning. One was from her mother of course, and the second was from within Hogwarts. She opened the one from her mother first. It was just the same as any other letter anyone would receive from their mother, saying 'how are you?', 'did you settle in alright?', 'how was the trip?', 'how are all your friends?' and all the other stuff she could cram into one letter. Rebecca would write back later on.

She then looked at the second envelope that wasn't very identifiable. She opened it to find an invitation to a school ball. As she looked up with question, she noticed that everyone else had also received one. It read:

Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore

and

Deputy Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall

would like to request your presence,

accompanied by a partner,

for the

'Springtide' Ball

September 30th, Great Hall, 6:30pm

It was unusual for Hogwarts to hold a ball so early in the year, though hardly anyone was complaining. And it was only one week away.


	12. Chapter 12

For the rest of the day just about every conversation revolved around the Springtide dance. Rebecca was beginning to think she'd rather it be over before it even began. From this subject a lot of talk also involved shopping for dresses in Hogsmeade the following day, as it would be Saturday. Rebecca guessed she would have to go. Even if she didn't want to, she'd still probably go by force with the amount of girlfriends she had. Now all she had to do was wait for someone to ask her to the dance. Rebecca was too shy to ask anyone herself.

Amongst all this fuss, she also had to start thinking about the Amortentia potion she had to make with Draco. She would be meeting him in the library this afternoon. Rebecca really hoped he showed. She wouldn't know what to do otherwise. And Harry wanted to start quidditch practice on Tuesday. It never stopped.

Finally being dismissed from her last lesson of the day, Rebecca made her way to the library. When she entered the library she scanned the area for an empty table. There were a few, but there was one almost empty table she saw near back that occupied Draco already. She felt so relieved. She walked over and sat opposite him.

"Where did you get up to last time?" Draco asked her first up. She gave him a 'you must be joking' type of look.

"Hello, Malfoy, nice to see you too." Rebecca answered instead.

"Uh…" He looked a little puzzled.

"I don't get a hello?" She asked expectantly.

"Hello." He said quickly, "So _where _did you say?" He asked again.

"I didn't do anything except look over the potion a few too many times." She said, looking at him in a funny way that made him feel a little guilty.

The next hour or so was spent doing a little more revision and planning out. They decided the next time they would meet up in the dungeons instead to start making the potion. Seeing as that was all they really needed to do, they finished up a little earlier than expected. They packed up and left the library, and walked slowly through the corridors together on their way back to their separate common rooms.

"Are you going into Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Draco asked first.

"Yeah, I guess so. Are you?"

"Yeah." There was a long silence. Rebecca couldn't call it awkward, but it wasn't all that comfortable either.

"We're playing you in quidditch a week from Saturday, right?" Rebecca asked, trying to strike up some sort of conversation as they were struggling.

"Yeah. I take it you made the team then?" He asked.

"Yeah, I did actually. Did you?"

"Of course, seeker." He said pompously. Just as she was about to respond they heard a loud crash and a scream, followed by laughter and some crazy, rhyming chant. One voice Rebecca once swore she would never get in the way of again. Both Draco and herself spun around to see Peeves, Hogwarts' poltergeist, floating into the corridor and laughing so hard Rebecca wouldn't be surprised if he had wet himself… if it was possible.

"Oh," Rebecca muttered in horror. She automatically grabbed Draco by the wrist, instinctively looking for protection and warning him. Draco didn't object as the two stood very silently and watched Peeves carefully, wide eyed. In the midst of Peeves' horrendous laughter he noticed the pair watching him, and his laughter gave way to his taunting voice instead.

"Ooh, lookie at what we have here... Holding hands is what I see! A Gryffindor and a Slytherin! A _forbidden romance_!" Peeves shouted so loudly he took them both by surprise, and it took them a little longer to register what he had said.

"Ewwwyyyy, yuuuuuck, I don't believe my poor old eyes! Fraternizing with the enemy!" Peeves began to cackle madly. Rebecca quickly dropped Draco's wrist as Peeves very slowly floated towards them.

"Ickle Whyte and bitty Malfoy... how pleasant!" Peeves teased.

"I'll tell the Bloody Baron what you're doing!" Draco warned Peeves. The Bloody Baron was Slytherin's ghost, an old terrifying ghost who is covered in silver blood. Nobody knows why he is covered in blood. Everybody respects him to some degree, and for some unknown reason, Peeves is utterly terrified of him.

"Not if I get you first!" Peeves shouted, cackling with madness as he swooped the pair.

"Run!" Rebecca yelled and took off quickly, catching the odd look on Draco's face before he started running after her. They didn't get very far before they could hear Peeves chanting ridiculous rhyming chants again about getting them. Rebecca thought she saw a cork fly past Draco's head. He cursed very loudly and started running even faster. Rebecca tried to get a better grip on the things she was carrying, and started running a little faster to keep up with Draco. Then a walking stick flew over Rebecca's head and landed in front of her, almost causing her to stumble as she screamed and laughed with the thrill and excitement.

Draco slowed down in surprise for a split second to look at her as if she were crazy. She couldn't be enjoying this.

"Keep running!" She shouted with a big grin spread across her face. So Draco did. Rebecca was laughing so hard by now that she was finding it hard to run at all. They had covered the distance of two long corridors already, and were really quite out of breath. Still laughing, Rebecca stopped and leant against a wall. Draco stopped with her and copied her actions. All of a sudden Peeves appeared above them and was juggling lit torches. He threatened them by catching a dropped torch right above their heads as Rebecca screamed.

"Whyte!" Draco whined, and before she knew it, it was him who grabbed her by the wrist and hauled her along.

"Hurry up!" Draco yelled, looking to Rebecca with a desperate expression as Rebecca was smiling gloriously.

"I'm coming," She said, drawing in a big breath. Draco looked past her in horror.

She heard a light thump and looked over her shoulder to see that one of the torches Peeves had been juggling had landed on the floor just behind her, realising Peeves was closer than she thought. The both of them picked up the pace once again and another torch landed in front of them. They ran the length of one more corridor before seeing an open classroom door.

"In here!" Draco yelled, pulling Rebecca towards the empty classroom. As soon as they were inside Draco had slammed the door shut and the both of them sunk down to the floor, their backs leaning against the closed door. Not a word was said and all they could hear was their loud, heavy breathing. Rebecca turned her head to look at Draco. His face was flushed and he appeared quite startled. Rebecca giggled lightly at his weak appearance. He shot her a disgruntled look.

"That wasn't funny! I really can't see what you find so amusing!" He huffed, a frown forming on his face.

"Haven't you ever been chased by Peeves before?" She asked, nearly managing her breath.

"What? No! Have you?" He asked, a frown definitley set on his face.

"Yes, actually. Back in fourth year. A cane around the ankle, and he got me good too." She said with all seriousness. Draco looked at her blankly, not sure if he should be believing her or not. She smiled and gave a light laugh lightening the mood, and he finally did the same.

"I think he's gone now." She said, getting up off the floor.

"How do you know?" Draco asked in the process of getting up as well.

"I don't. But I can't hear him anymore, so I'm only assuming." She shrugged. He gave her a strange look and she returned it with a frown.

Rebecca opened the door slightly ajar and looked around outside. There was no sign of Peeves, or anyone else for that matter. She opened the door fully and stepped into the corridor. Peeves was certainly gone, and Draco followed her. They walked back a couple of corridors the same way they came. They reached the cross section in the corridors where they usually went their separate ways.

"On Monday we're meeting in the dungeons, don't forget." Rebecca reminded him cautiously.

"I won't." He said defensively, and he almost thought he might never live it down for abandoning her that once.

"Were you being serious about being hit by Peeves back in fourth year?" He finally asked, because he couldn't figure her out.

"Oh yeah, dead serious. I was in the hospital wing for two days." Rebecca told him, remembering how much it had hurt having her ankle broken by a flying cane. "Why?"

"Just wondering. I'll probably see you in Hogsmeade tomorrow." He said, glancing to the floor.

"Okay. I'll see you later." She said and turned to head back to the Gryffindor tower, as did he to the dungeons.

She strolled along the corridor by herself, recapturing the entire Peeves scenario when she heard a loud crash and the stressed voice of Draco echoing through the corridors, and she could easily visualise him being hit by a flying cane. She couldn't help but smile to herself as she heard fast footsteps fading away, and the uproar of laughter and chanting that seemed to be getting closer…

Rebecca quickly stopped smiling and made a dash for the Gryffindor common room before she even saw the cackling terror.

* * *

Rebecca woke up the next morning to the sound of rummaging and frustrated whispers. She groaned and rolled over, slowly opening her tired eyes to see the brightly lit dorm. Digging through her trunk at the base of her bed was Parvati.

"What are you doing?" Rebecca asked with a croaky voice due to lack of use.

"I can't find my jumper!" She whined, slumping back to the floor. Rebecca's eyes scanned the room quickly as she got used to the light.

"Hang on," Rebecca croaked as she slipped out of the warm comfort of her bed and walked across the cold floor to Parvati's bed which was situated next to hers. She pulled up a gray woollen jumper from in between her bed and nightstand.

"Is this it?" Rebecca asked, throwing it to her before she could reply.

"Yes! Thank you," She cried gratefully as she pulled it over her head. Rebecca quickly escaped the cold floor by returning back to her bed before it lost all of its warmth and pulled the covers around her shoulders.

"What time is it?" She asked and reached for the small clock sitting on her own night stand. It was half past eight.

"Oh. We're still leaving for Hogsmeade at nine, right?" Rebecca asked in a sudden panic.

"Yes, Bec, we always do. You better hurry up." Parvati answered. Rebecca unwillingly let go of the warmth yet again and scrambled half way into her trunk at the base of her bed, and pulled out some casual clothes before running into the connecting bathroom.

She halved her time in the shower and got dressed as quick as she could.

"Bec?" Parvati called as she knocked on the bathroom door. "We'll wait for you downstairs, okay?"

"Okay!" Rebecca called back as she tried to style her hair quickly. When she felt she was ready she walked across the now empty dorm and made her way down the stairs. She stopped to look out a window briefly. It was raining. Her Saturday suddenly didn't seem quite so cheery anymore. She quickly skipped down the rest of the remaining stairs and reached the Common Room. It was full of first and second years, who weren't old enough to go to Hogsmeade, and none of her friends. She glanced at a grandfather clock stowed in a corner, out of the way, to see it was only a couple of minutes left until nine.

She hurriedly left through the portrait hole and ran as fast as she could down numerous corridors and stair cases without seeing anyone, until she finally reached the courtyard where there were still just a few students waiting to leave for Hogsmeade. She found that her friends had already left. She collapsed on a bench and tried to catch my breath as fast as possible as Filch, the caretaker, marked her name off.

As she saw the carriages returning from Hogsmeade for the last of the students travelling there, she got up and climbed into a carriage which she shared with Demelza Robins and a couple of her friends for the short trip. Rebecca didn't know Demelza outside of quidditch very well as she was a year younger. Conversation therefore mainly revolved around the upcoming quidditch season.

The entire trip Rebecca was left wondering where Parvati and the others had gone.

The carriages pulled up in the main street of Hogsmeade a short while later. It was still raining lightly and everything was damp. There was enough cloud cover for the street lamps to be lit, and the brightly lit shops looked warm and inviting.

Rebecca told Demelza and her friends that she would see them later because she was going to go and look for her friends. She walked down the wet street, water lightly trickling in the gutters, and looked through shop windows as she passed them. She finally spotted them standing in The Three Broomsticks. She walked through the pub door, instantly overcome with warmth and a buzzing atmosphere.

"Bec!" Harry called out to her. She waded through many familiar faces to reach them, as the pub was full of Hogwarts students escaping the cold and wet streets.

"Hey," She greeted everyone before turning to her roommate.

"Where did you guys disappear to?" She asked mainly Parvati as she was passed a butterbeer.

"Filch wouldn't let us wait for you," Hermione answered.

"We begged and begged, I promise." Parvati said, looking sorry. Rebecca forgave them quickly. The three girls plus Harry, Ron and Seamus Finnigan finished their butterbeers accompanied by friendly conversation.

"We'd better start looking for dresses," Hermione said, looking at her watch. She was one to be well organised and managed her time well. Parvati and Rebecca agreed as they got up to leave, while the boys rolled their eyes and went back for another butterbeer.

On their way out, pushing through the crowd, Rebecca saw Draco with no one but Blaise Zabini who had been seated quite close to where they had been. When she had initially noticed him, he looked up to Blaise, looking a lot less than unhappy as he spoke. He then glanced around the populated room and spotted Rebecca just as she turned away.


	13. Chapter 13

'How about this one?', 'No... What about that one?' and 'I liked the pink one better.' were the only sort of things Rebecca was to hear for the next hour or so. Rebecca, Hermione and Parvati had found the perfect dress shop just a couple of streets down from The Three Broomsticks which wasn't all that busy. Not until they walked in, anyway. Rebecca had lost count of how many dresses the other two had thrown at her, not to mention each other. She may have liked some of them, but she felt that none of them seemed quite right. She definitely avoided the frills and lace. She hated frills and lace.

Parvati had picked her final choice already. It was a long dusty pink dress that Hermione and Rebecca both admired. Parvati had then begun to browse the shoes and jewellery.

"Which one do you like better? The white one or the red one?" Rebecca turned around to see Hermione holding up two dresses to herself. She had already tried them on and seemed to be struggling to choose one.

"The white one." Rebecca responded, now holding up a pretty teal dress. "Do you like this one?" She asked Hermione.

"Wow, that one's really pretty," Hermione began, though she'd said that about most of the dresses in the shop. Rebecca returned it to the rack and continued browsing while Hermione had gone to try on the white dress again.

Rebecca spent a few minutes wandering around one side of the shop by herself in silence. She was flicking through the many dresses on a rack she hadn't looked at yet, not even really looking anymore as she was becoming tired of looking, and her thoughts drifted elsewhere. She slowly moved along the small and narrow aisle. She thought she saw a dress she might like, that was sticking out from behind someone. It was only then did she notice the folded arms, and she looked up a lot more than surprised to see Draco Malfoy.

"No hello?" He asked, mimicking what she had said the previous day.

"If there was I would have said it already." She said smartly, and Draco wished he had thought of that yesterday.

Rebecca moved closer and Draco stepped away, and she pulled out the prettiest dress that had been hidden behind him. It was the prettiest dress she had seen all day. She held it up while examining it. It was a pretty light blue with a thin and smooth white sparkly veil like material glazed over it. It was strapless and it would cling to her waist and then fall into long flowing pleats. It was simple, but it was perfect.

"This is it." Rebecca murmured quietly, her eyes roaming the pretty garment.

"As if you could pull that off." Malfoy teased. Her head snapped up and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Just you wait." Was all she could come up with before turning on the spot and walking in the other direction. Draco followed her.

"I like this one better." Rebecca heard him say. She turned around out of idol curiosity only to get a face full of the silky green dress he had just thrown at her. Rebecca got a proper grip on it and held it up to have a look. Her immediate thoughts weren't very pleasant. She held the green dress up next to her face.

"Sorry, green really isn't my colour," She stated simply before throwing it back to him. Before she could leave again he tossed another dress to her, a long and sleek silver one.

"How about that one?" He asked, although it was more of statement. Rebecca gave it a once over and simply rejected it, throwing it back.

"Fine, be picky. This one," He threw another dress to her, this time being a little gold one. She didn't even bother to look at. She sighed and hung it on the rack next to her instead of throwing it back. To avoid another series of dresses being tossed into her face she called over Hermione.

She came over quite quickly, still wearing the white dress. Rebecca marvelled at how gorgeous she looked, as Hermione noticed the dress Rebecca was holding. She held the blue dress to herself.

"Look," Was all she managed to say before Hermione cut in.

"Perfect! It matches your eyes." She said for the first time that day, and Rebecca knew that it was hers.

"And I'm definitely doing the white one." She smiled, "What do you think?" She asked as she turned around.

"Couldn't get more pretty, Hermione, I promise." Rebecca complimented while holding the bottom corner of her dress to her. Rebecca looked back over to where Draco had been. He was casually leaning on one of the racks while observing the two girls fuss over their chosen dresses. Hermione had followed her gaze.

"What are you doing here?" She asked Draco, quite stunned.

"It's none of your business, mudblood." He spat back at her quite harshly. Hermione cringed at his harsh words as he stood and gave her a once over menacingly. Hermione looked back to Rebecca for answers to see she was staring at Draco, horrified.

"I thought we... _talked_ about this sort of thing," Rebecca reminded him sternly.

"_Talked?_" He repeated. Hermione was a little taken aback by the way they spoke. Rebecca shot Draco a disgusted look, as she knew that he knew very well what she was referring to. Rebecca left him to go to Hermione, taking her by the elbow and walking her away from Draco.

They found Parvati trying on a pair of sparkly shoes. Rebecca and Hermione were showing her the dresses they had picked out, Hermione still wearing hers, when they noticed Parvati's gaze float past them. Hermione stopped talking mid-sentence as herself and Rebecca turned around.

"What's he doing here?"Parvati spoke like Draco wasn't there. Rebecca frowned to see he had followed them, safely keeping his distance.

"What _are_ you doing here?" Rebecca finally asked.

"I wanted to ask you something about our assignment." He said calmly, ignoring the other two Gryffindor girls.

"Really," Rebecca stated rather than queried.

"Yes. Can I talk to you now?" He asked, appearing impatient by this point and turning his body, gesturing to the shop door with his hand. Rebecca sighed and handed her dress to Hermione to look after.

"I'll be back in a minute." Rebecca said and followed Draco outside.

"Is it really necessary to come outside just to ask a question?" She asked as they stepped outside into the rain. "We could have easily just gone over to the other side of the shop," She suggested, but he kept walking. Rebecca quickly followed, jogging to catch up to him.

"Where the hell are we going?" She asked hastily. He stopped and turned without even looking at her, but straight over the top of her head instead. Rebecca squinted through the rain to see all the water running out of his hair, a concentrated look in his pale eyes.

"Umm," He murmured before looking across the street and grabbing her wrist.

"This way." He finally replied as he dragged Rebecca across the wet street. He lead her in between two buildings and down a couple of slippery steps to enter a cold, dark and damp smelling alley that had been deserted long ago, full of puddles because of the rain.

"Malfoy…" She said nervously as a shiver ran down her spine and her eyes adjusted to the dark. The alley was full of old rotting crates and rats, and as they sloshed through the water Rebecca noticed the ground was quite soft. Perhaps the ground was dirt rather than stone. She couldn't see it because of the darkness and the puddles. She really hoped Draco had a better reason than asking about their assignment to drag her to such an awful place. She was becoming worried as he wasn't letting go of her wrist.

"Wait a second…" Draco said, sounding a little unsure and stopping in his tracks. Rebecca let out a small gasp and inched closer to him, and wrapped her free arm around his that was still holding her wrist, feeling vulnerable once they stopped moving. As she moved closer she tragically tripped over one of his feet and fell into him, forcing them along the narrow alley a little further. Just as they did Rebecca heard a loud crack followed by crumbling, and realised the soft ground was giving way beneath them.

Draco cursed loudly and Rebecca stiffened. Then they fell. It startled both of them and Rebecca screamed. Instinctively Draco let go of her wrist as she did his arm. With a loud crunch they landed on a dusty dirt floor.

Rebecca, slightly winded, coughed and sat up. She looked around for a moment, seeing high dirt walls with an excessive amount of roots sticking out of them and a tunnel a little further ahead, but couldn't see Draco.

"Malfoy?" She warily asked the air in front of her.

"What did you do that for?" She heard his familiar voice come from behind her.

"Do what?" She asked as she turned to see him.

"Fall over! Didn't you see the rotten ground in front of us?" He asked, clearly annoyed.

"No, I was too busy looking out for the rats." She replied, though she couldn't recall what she had been looking at.

"The rats are on the ground." Draco stated matter-of-fact like. Rebecca frowned at him in defeat.

Draco then took in his dim surroundings, looking up, then over at the tunnel.

"Come on." He commanded while getting up. Rebecca got up, brushing the dirt off herself.

"Do you think we'll be able to climb out of here?" He asked, looking at the big hole above them.

"Maybe with those roots sticking out of the wall." Rebecca suggested. It was obvious that neither of them wanted to venture down the tunnel. They moved over to the wall and had a better look at the roots. They were moving like worms.

"They're moving! I'm not touching them," Rebecca said quickly.

"Fine. You'll be sorry when I'm out there and you're still stuck in here." He retorted with a good point. He was right. They reached out for the roots at the same time, but as they did every single one of them instantly shrunk back into the dirt wall.

"Eww!" Rebecca cringed right away from the wall while Draco simply retracted his hand. After a few seconds the roots slowly began to reappear again.

"I don't think we should climb the roots." Rebecca sighed quickly, and to her relief Draco grunted in agreement.

"What now?" She asked. He looked around and Rebecca watched as his eyes landed on the tunnel.

"We follow wherever that goes." He pointed to the dark tunnel. Rebecca sent him a 'you've got to be joking' type of look, but he certainly wasn't joking.

"You're going first." She demanded while crossing her arms. He rolled his eyes and proceeded down the tunnel, and Rebecca followed him, afraid to be left alone.

Rebecca felt like they had been walking for something close to forever, but every time she complained, Draco reassured her that it had been no longer than ten minutes. It was an unpleasant walk.

Rebecca was absolutely terrified of spiders, and she was the one that kept walking into 'invisible' spider webs. Every time she got scared he would tell her to just brush them off. The few times she came face to face with big hairy spiders, he said they wouldn't hurt her. That's when she protested by saying they would eat her they were that big. And then she was constantly tripping over tree roots, rocks and her own feet while he miraculously missed them all.

"You do know you are an extremely clumsy person, right?" He asked, turning back to look at her for the first time. She tried very quickly to think of something smart to say, but nothing came to her. He smirked and continued walking, feeling much better now that he felt she was at her mercy, as he appeared to be the leader and felt much more superior again. But he couldn't quite ignore the funny feeling that she needed looking after.

They continued walking just before Rebecca touched something that moved. She let out the loudest curse word she ever had before and quickly ran ahead and ducked in front of Draco.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked in annoyance.

"What the hell are _you_ doing?" She asked him instead while searching the dirt wall for the whatever-it-was-that-moved.

"What do you mean what am _I_ doing?" He asked stupidly. Rebecca flicked her searching gaze back to him, even though she could barely see his face.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to wander down dark alleys?" She quoted.

"No. Did yours?" He asked in a silly voice that implied nobody's mother told their child that.

"Oh, come on, it's just common sense." She defended, standing up straight ad forgetting about the whatever-it-was-that-moved. Draco rolled his eyes and pushed past her, continuing down the long tunnel that seemed to be going nowhere.

"You do know you are an extremely rude person, right?" Rebecca mocked him, following him once more.

"Yes, in fact. You've told me that before." He answered. Rebecca sighed. After a long silence a thought suddenly came to her.

"What was your question about the assignment?" She asked very curiously. Rebecca couldn't see how a simple question about an assignment could involve anything to do with wandering down a random dark alley.

"Bec… will you…?" Rebecca only just heard Draco say in the most quiet and gentle voice a little ahead of her. He turned his body the slightest bit so he could turn his head to look at her. She stood there and waited for a moment as his eyes were penetrated her own as though they were searching for something. Rebecca gestured in a way that asked him what he was going to say.

With one quick movement he looked away again. It was very odd.

"Come on." He finally said after a few moments of silence. He continued walking, and Rebecca followed him without another word. It was almost like she was too scared to break the rocky silence that swamped them.

She was very curious about what he was going to ask her, but it seemed too wrong to ask anything now. The moment had passed. But that tiny moment that she knew so little about was just too precious for her to be able to drop it so easily. Rebecca wondered if these were the sorts of things that kept Draco so fascinating; unclear answers.

In the meantime, Draco had no clear answers himself. What was he doing with this girl?


	14. Chapter 14

It wasn't a long while after when Rebecca and Draco finally reached the end of what they were beginning to think was a never ending tunnel. They had stopped talking quite some time ago and were finding it a little awkward that they couldn't escape each others' presence.

They roughly climbed a steep ascending cavern which lead to an old, dark and dusty shop which homed bits and pieces of everything ranging from light bulbs to skeletons. Nobody else was in there, and it appeared closed. Or perhaps closed down. Draco went straight for the door as Rebecca carefully took in her surroundings. Weirdly enough, the door was unlocked, and the pair left before you could say 'alohomora'. They found their way from the strange shop and back the main street silently, and left for their separate ways with hardly a 'goodbye'. Rebecca noticed Draco return to The Three Broomsticks. She had to walk a few streets more to return to the dress shop where she found Hermione and Parvati still minding her blue dress. Rebecca apologised for taking so long. Hermione, checking her watch, insisted that it wouldn't take forty minutes to ask a simple question. Rebecca made it out that Draco insisted on having a butterbeer as they talked about the assignment. She could tell Hermione didn't really believe her, and she didn't fully understand why she just didn't tell her the truth.

To keep Hermione and Parvati waiting much longer, Rebecca quickly chose a pretty pair of sparkling silver heels to go with her dress. Now that the main chore of their Hogsmeade trip had been fulfilled, they were left to spend the last hour that they had left doing whatever they pleased. As they left the dress shop Hermione insisted on knowing what Draco had asked Rebecca. She simply replied that he didn't fully understand a part of it which Rebecca had to sit down and explain to him. Both Rebecca and Hermione knew the only assignment they had was the Potions assignment, and they both knew that Draco was one of the top students in that class. Rebecca remained very suspicious to Hermione, while Rebecca continued wondering about what Draco could possibly have wanted to ask her. She couldn't really answer Hermione, because she didn't know.

As the three returned back to the main street of Hogsmeade they ran into Harry, Ron, Seamus and Neville Longbottom. They joined them on their trip to Honeydukes, a wonderful lolly shop. It was their last stop before heading back to Hogwarts. Hermione, Harry and Ron all left before Rebecca, Parvati, Neville and Seamus. They all loaded each other with lollies and returned to Hogwarts, stocked with sugar.

* * *

It was Saturday night, and Hermione, Harry and Ron hadn't returned to the Gryffindor Common Room until late. They came back with the news of Katie Bell who had been cursed by a necklace on the way back from Hogsmeade, which the trio had witnessed. The three joined Seamus, Neville, Rebecca, Parvati, Dean Thomas (Seamus' best friend who was currently dating Ginny Weasley; Ron's little sister who had also accompanied him), Fred, George and Lee Jordan (the twins' best friend). Harry quite openly blamed Draco Malfoy for Katie's unfortunate incident, and Rebecca said nothing. She did notice Hermione watching her carefully, however.

It was getting even later and it was unlikely now that the elder Gryffindor students were headed for bed anytime soon. They had been sitting in the Common Room for the past few hours, moving on from Katie and giggling and finishing off their weekend's supply of sugar in one night. The sugar had affected them terribly as they were being awfully loud and finding it hard to sit still. There weren't any other students left in the Common Room, apart from the lively group.

A few of them were laughing uncontrollably for no good reason and the rest of them were thinking of something fun to do.

"Truth or dare!" Dean yelled over the top of everyone.

"No way, it's been played too many times." Ron objected and the rest agreed.

"I want to play something outrageous, something against the rules!" Fred said, gasping from laughter as.

"Oh yeah… you mean something like chasy, or hide and seek?" Ron said sarcastically.

"Yes! That's what we'll play!" George exclaimed very excitedly, jumping up from his seat on the floor.

"Chasy?" Harry asked weirdly.

"No, hide and seek!" Fred corrected loudly.

"Please remind me, how is that anywhere near outrageous and against the rules?" Ron asked.

"We'll make it so it's against the rules." Fred grinned mischievously, clearly following where his brother was going.

"But it's such an innocent little game made for six year olds!" Seamus complained. The twins' grins appeared to be getting bigger.

"We'll play out in the corridors… where it's dark," Fred began.

"And we'll have to hide from Filch and his cat as well!" George added. Everyone began smiling and chattering at the idea.

"We can't go out into the corridors, it's against the rules!" Hermione cried.

"Exactly!" The twins responded eagerly.

They had to establish certain rules before hand: they had to stay on the seventh floor, the same floor as the Gryffindor Common Room, no shoes, no wands, for Harry - no invisibility cloak, and that if anybody was unfortunate enough to run into Filch they would not dob in everyone else.

Managing to convince Hermione to play, the large group filed out of the portrait as quietly as they could. Some, however, couldn't help but giggle with their adrenaline pumping already. The portrait lady was woken up with the noise.

"Where are you going? Come back here right now!" She cried as everyone ran around the corner, escaping her. Fred was made the first to be in and they had just a minute to hide.

"Remember, every man for himself!" Fred shouted as quietly as possible while everyone disappeared down different corridors.

Running along the dark corridors Rebecca watched as her friends hid behind tapestries and clanked behind suits of armour. She hid herself on the top few steps of a staircase that led up to the floor everyone was hidden on. She was quite amused to watch a few of the others run past her frantically looking for a hiding spot without seeing her.

"Found you!" She stiffened and lay as low as she possibly could on the cold stone stairs, held her breath and hoped that Fred hadn't already found her.

"Oooohhhhhhh…!" She heard someone else nearby whine. They continued talking as they walked past. Fred had found Ginny. Just as they passed Rebecca, Ginny turned around and winked at her. She smiled at her just as she said, "Hey, Fred, I think I just saw George run around there!" Fred took off around the corner even though George wasn't really there at all. It was Rebecca's cue to change hiding places. She got up and ran down the corridor in the opposite direction that Fred and Ginny had gone. Every tapestry or suit of armour she considered hiding behind either didn't work or someone was already there.

Soon enough she could hear Fred finding the people where she had just been, meaning he had changed direction. It sounded like he had found most people by now.

Rebecca was running out of time and places, and she knew Fred was basically right behind her. Her last resort was to stand flat against the wall, preferably in the shadows, so that's exactly what she did.

Not a moment later Fred walked by, and she could hear him murmuring something which she made out to be that Rebecca had won this round because she was the last one he needed to find. Rebecca snickered in amusement and he instantly spun around, more startled than she'd ever seen him before. His face instantly softened up when he realised it was only Rebecca.

"Found you." He said with a devilish grin. They laughed back down to the end of the corridor where everyone was waiting for Fred to come back with her. Just as Fred announced that Ginny was now in, they heard a cat's meow. Every one of them froze at the sudden sound. They heard it again.

"Not Ginny, Filch!" George corrected his twin brother. Every one of them ran off in different directions to avoid Filch and his cat, Mrs Norris, whether they actually hid or just kept their distance.

Rebecca chose to keep moving as she thought it would be the safer option. She had been wandering the big empty corridors by herself for a few minutes now. She stopped when she heard Filch talking to his cat, asking it where the 'naughty students' were, in the same corridor that Rebecca was in at the moment. She could see the glow of his light slowly getting closer.

She turned around and started running. This was the exact reason for wearing no shoes; otherwise Rebecca's footsteps would easily be heard. She only just managed to escape around a corner when she ran into something head on.

All that was heard was a muffled 'oomph!' which Rebecca thought awfully resembled the sound of air being knocked out of someone. She nearly fell backwards in surprise, not able to figure out who it was. She held her breath in anticipation, dreading the possibilities of who it could be, especially at this hour. Then the mystery person shuffled around a bit and whispered 'lumos' so the top of their wand was dimly lit, revealing Draco Malfoy.

"Oh, it's only you!" He sighed, breathing out heavily as though he had also been holding his breath. Rebecca couldn't believe her luck. Draco could have been anyone. Before she had the chance to say anything, she heard Mrs Norris close by and turned her head just before the glow of Filch's light rounded the corner.

"Quick! Run!" Rebecca whispered harshly, clambering off the ground and looking straight past Draco as a look of realisation washed over his face.

They took off down the corridor and Rebecca took every left, right or staircase possible, whatever came first. She knew Draco was still following her because she could hear his loud footsteps due to his shoes on the stone floors, but for what reason she did not know.

The pair of them pulled over to the side of the corridor that was dressed in shadows, getting their breath back. While doing so Rebecca looked around the deserted corridor.

"What floor are we on?" She managed to ask between gasps of air. She watched Draco look around like she had just done.

"Uh… I think this might be the third or fourth floor." He let out amongst heavy breathing. As she looked around again, it appeared he was right. Not a moment later had she let out a big sigh and stood up straight once more.

"Should we go and hide?" She asked, looking around as though she was expecting someone to appear suddenly.

"What? Why?" Draco asked, looking at her weirdly.

"Oh. We're playing hide and seek… or we were until Filch came along and we ran for our bloody lives." She explained.

"Oh? We were running for our lives and not just to avoid a week of detention?" Draco asked, with a humorous smile playing on his lips. Rebecca couldn't help but think that humour looked good on his usually hard face. She blankly looked at nothing across the hall in thought.

"No, we were definitely running for our lives." She stated rightly. Draco and herself looked at each other for minute, though it was hard to see. Rebecca heard Draco hesitate as though he didn't understand her own humour. Rebecca began to laugh at him. Draco realised, feeling a bit stupid, but then started laughing too because, quite frankly, he didn't care.

The both of them leaned on the wall and sunk to the floor in laughter. They sat there for a minute and basked in their own giggly glory without speaking before hearing a door close loudly, silencing them immediately.

"You know what?" Draco asked in a whisper. Rebecca looked at him and shook her head.

"I think hiding might not be such a bad idea." He said quickly in a louder whisper. He got up off the floor, and being the gentleman he claimed himself to be, offered Rebecca a hand up. She gladly took it and the two of them walked down the corridor together.

The next corridor held nearly no shadows because one stone wall was full of large windows. The bright moon on that still, clear night turned the place white. Rebecca marvelled at its beauty, and Draco noticed. He watched her peer out the windows as they walked along, her long blonde hair bouncing with every step.

He was thinking about her. He suddenly noticed how quickly she put things behind her; their loud argument, and when Draco dragged her pointlessly around in the wet. She never asked anything. He wished everybody could be like that, and just forget.

She turned around to find him already looking at her. She wasn't facing the natural glow, her face shadowed. But even through the darkness, Draco couldn't help but think how strikingly beautiful she actually was. He was nearly ashamed that it took this long to notice. A pretty face with a personality to match.

"This way," He said quietly, turning to go down a flight of stairs. Then another, and then one more, reaching the first floor. Draco lead Rebecca this time, as they pressed against the stone wall along the corridor and then through one of the arch ways which lead outside and into a courtyard.

"We're going outside now? That would get us in even more trouble," Rebecca hinted.

"So we _were_ avoiding getting in trouble just now?" He turned and raised an eyebrow.

"…No… I mean, if they caught us out here, we would be in so much trouble they'd kill us as punishment." Rebecca said with wide eyes in a humorous way. Draco caught himself chuckling and shook his head, continuing across the courtyard with Rebecca in tow.

"Behind the fountain!" Rebecca suggested excitedly, and she jogged over to sit down behind the large, round fountain in the centre of the moonlit courtyard. She looked over the top of the edge to see Draco exactly where she left him, looking at her strangely.

"Come on. Before someone sees you standing there like a real idiot!" Rebecca informed him. Draco cracked a smile.

"There's nobody here but us." He told her, putting his hands in his pockets as he watched her.

"Before someone comes then," Rebecca corrected, and Draco strolled over to crouch down behind the fountain with her.

"What are you on?" He asked sarcastically, and even though Rebecca knew it was a rhetorical question, she answered it anyway.

"It's not just me! All of us who were playing hide and seek are on it!" She played. Draco looked a little taken aback.

"And 'it' is…?" He asked, looking over her.

"Sugar." Rebecca smiled. He could see her face in the light now. Her defined features and her blue eyes that stood out against her smooth skin that was nearly as pale as his own. He looked at her for a long time. Her eyes... He stood up, catching himself. He looked around the courtyard.

"Hey," He mumbled incoherently, before leaving Rebecca and walking across the courtyard. He stopped and inspected the ground. It took Rebecca a slow moment to realise he was looking over their target. She then got up and wandered over to him.

It took Draco a moment to realise Rebecca was also standing there. They both looked at each other and then the target for a few quiet seconds. It looked like it hadn't been touched since the afternoon they first drew it there.

"Do you want to play?" Rebecca asked, the excitement returning to her voice. Draco looked at her again.

"Sure." He smiled. They looked around for a few similar rocks. After a few minutes of searching the courtyard Rebecca had found three smooth white pebbles. She looked up to see Draco still looking for his last rock. She walked back over to the target again and waited for him.

"You ready?" Draco said as he stood up from picking up his last rock. Rebecca nodded and Draco stood next to her. He had picked up three grey rocks.

"Ladies first," He gestured Rebecca forward. She tossed one of her rocks towards the target, then stepped back to let Draco have his turn.

"You get to use your right hand this time." She pointed out.

"Yes, be prepared to lose, Whyte." He smirked. Rebecca raised her eyebrows.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you." She retorted playfully.

"Just you wait and see." He said, stepping back to let Rebecca have her second turn. She gently threw her rock towards the target and watched it land somewhere near the middle.

"See that? I'm going to win." She teased, stepping back once again.

"What? I didn't see anything. You're clearly going to lose." He said playfully, his rock landing just about where hers had.

"Go on, your last shot to embarrass yourself." He teased. Rebecca stepped forward, full of confidence and tossed her last rock. It landed somewhere towards the outer rings. Draco laughed as he stepped forward for his last throw. His shot didn't turn out much better than hers had. They looked at each other. Draco had eaten his own words, and Rebecca thought it hilarious.

"Go on, your last shot to embarrass yourself." She mocked him. He shoved her in the arm playfully before they went over to the target to add up their scores.

"One hundred and thirty." Draco stated proudly. Rebecca looked up at him and pursed her lips. She kicked all her rocks off the target before he had the chance to add up her score himself. He looked at her questionably.

"I won," She lied with a mischievous grin crossing her face. He continued looking at her funny, becoming a little suspicious.

"What was your score then?" He asked closing in on her.

"One hundred and forty." She lied again, except she laughed this time, completely giving it away. She slapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing even more.

"You're lying." He said, coming even closer.

"No I'm not!" She mumbled through her hand.

"Then why did you kick your rocks away?" He asked, sounding a little like a detective. She glanced at her rocks quickly at their mention and then back to him. She found herself backing away from him because of the close proximity.

"So... You wouldn't change them so you could win…?" She said feebly and laughed again.

"You're a really bad liar, you know that?" He began to laugh as well. Rebecca nodded.

"What was your real score?" He asked, even closer now.

"Not telling!" She laughed loudly, turning and running away from him.

She reached the fountain to hide from him, although when she got there she realised he was going after her, so she kept running. The both of them were laughing a little too loudly for comfort and Rebecca would scream playfully when he got too close. She was beginning to think that someone would come and find them very soon if they didn't either leave or quieten down. With that thought she ran through a different arch way that led out into the grounds.

She wasn't really sure where she was headed, but the only way she could really go was down the big hill. She quickly found that running down the hill wasn't the best idea. She changed direction so she was now running across the hill instead. She slowed down to see if Draco had followed her. He was literally right behind her. She slowed down so suddenly that Draco's body slammed into hers full of force, sending them both tumbling down the hill a few meters. They laid next to each other for a quick moment, recovering from their run in. As soon as Rebecca could, she quickly got onto her hands and knees in preparation to get up. Before she made to go, Draco got a grip on one of her ankles causing her to lay flat again. She rolled over onto her back and Malfoy quickly straddled her, holding her hands up above her head. Her stomach suddenly filled with butterflies. He was so close.

"Okay, okay! I lost, I lost!" She cried giving in much too soon again.

"By how much?" He prodded her even further.

"Thirty points! I only scored one hundred!" She said quickly. He raised his eyebrows questionably.

"I swear, I'm telling the truth!" She laughed, and Draco frowned.

"I thought it might have been more by the way you were acting," He said, sounding confused. "Nope. Just did it for the fun." She smiled. Draco hesitated slightly. He wouldn't have done that _for fun_.

"You're so weird." He mumbled, catching himself from saying she was different instead. Rebecca laughed at him, and he smiled a small smile. Rebecca's stomach flipped again.

Draco rolled off of her, and they both laid there in the lush green grass under the stars.

"Where are your shoes?" He asked her, as he noticed when he had grabbed her ankle. She laughed again at his sudden question. She had nearly forgotten herself.

"We all took our shoes off to play hide and seek so when we ran, it would be quiet." She answered him, and it occurred to him quickly that it was a good idea. He laughed with her.

They laid next to each other wordlessly and gazed at the night sky. The moon was nearly full, which explained the bright glow, and they could see every star, for it was a cloudless night. There was a gentle breeze that sent shivers down Draco's spine as he compared Rebecca to the night sky. He looked at her through the long grass between them, seeing her admire the starry sky peacefully. What he would give to be that at peace.

The whole atmosphere had the most precious charm to it. And the unlikely pair were surprised to feel completely at ease in each others' company.


	15. Chapter 15

Even if you asked them, they wouldn't be able to answer how long they spent lying on the hill together. To Draco, everything was almost perfect. Almost.

The weather conditions were absolutely perfect, and Draco realised he was lying right next to a newfound friend. He wondered how he'd never known her a little better like some other Gryffindors. He brushed that thought away though, because he felt perfect. Everything was almost perfect. It was only until this point where he began to wonder what Rebecca was thinking.

Funnily enough, her thoughts were similar. She was enjoying the perfect night. Draco was right about her having put everything behind her. She was living in the moment. She was thinking about how herself and Draco managed to get on so well, though she couldn't understand why. He was usually so careful about the people he associated with. He was so intriguing. But she was sincerely enjoying being in his company.

Both of them wondered how they could possibly relay their thoughts to the other.

"Did you feel that?" Draco asked suddenly, quickly sitting up on his elbows. Rebecca turned her head in his direction to find him staring at her intently.

"What?" She asked. Draco frowned and looked back up at the stars. Rebecca followed his gaze, but instead of the stars present just a moment ago, she saw heavy, dark clouds rolling in thick and fast. For a single moment there was a very eerie silence. All of a sudden rumbling thunder was heard close by accompanied with a strong gust of cold wind.

"Rain," Draco mumbled inaudibly. Then there was another blast of thunder and the wind picked up pace. The sky turned dark grey very quickly, not one star left to be seen, which made the grounds a lot darker.

And then it poured. It didn't even break in gently, the unlikely pair saturated all the way through instantly. Along with the rain came jagged bolts of lightning which lit up everything momentarily.

Without even looking at each other once, the both of them scrambled to their feet and attempted to run back up the hill. The hill had quickly become very slippery, stricken with mud and wet grass.

Rebecca was finding it hard to stay upright and they hadn't even gotten all that far. It got harder to remain standing the closer to the top they got. They constantly had to lean forward or grip the ground with their hands to regain balance.

With Draco's knowledge of Rebecca's lack of coordination, he remained in front of her. Just as Rebecca had nearly made it all the way to the top of the steep hill without completely falling over, she heard a loud 'whoa!' from in front of her.

It all happened so quickly then. Draco slipped backwards and strongly resembled a bowling ball, knocking Rebecca's feet out from underneath her. She fell with a loud 'oomph' and the both of them slid back down the hill helplessly. They ended up half way down the hill again, covered in mud, groaning and tangled in a heap.

They just lay there in the middle of the storm for a minute, aching and sprawled across each other. Rebecca propped herself up to look at Draco the same time he did her. He was covered in mud, some of it even smudged on his shocked face. She was sure she must look just like him.

Rebecca didn't realise she was doing it until a grin slowly spread across his face. She was smiling at him which made him smile back. She was getting the hang of making Draco Malfoy smile.

"Looks like you're almost as uncoordinated as me." Rebecca joked as she tried to get up. She then proceeded to slip over again as if to prove her point. Draco and herself stared at each other through the thick rain. The both of them burst into flat out laughter. They sat there in the rain and the mud for a moment, laughing so hard it made them stumble on their words as they recollected their latest journey down the hill.

"I really think we should move." Draco said as soon as he regained enough breath to speak normally. He managed to stand up without slipping and offered his muddy hand to Rebecca for the second time that night. She took it carefully and he made sure she didn't fall again.

They made their way to the top of the hill again much more carefully, chuckling all the way. They eventually reached the top where the ground evened out again.

It was finally safe enough for them to run over the path and up the few steps. They paused under the narrow, but thick stone archway, which lead back into the courtyard and was wide enough to shelter them from the rain, not that it mattered by this point anyway. They were soaked to the core. They leaned against the walls of the archway opposite each other, hunched over their knees trying to catch their breath, which left only a small space between them.

Rebecca turned her head sideways and watched the giant, heavy raindrops falling thick and fast into the fountain in the middle of the courtyard, splashing over the edges. After a moment when her breath was steady once more, she looked to see if Draco's was too. In actual fact, his breath may have been twice as steady as hers. He looked tense, as though he was thinking hard.

He glanced at Rebecca. They looked into each other's eyes briefly.

Rebecca warily looked across to the fountain again, then back to Draco. He was still looking at her.

_She remembered the moment she first laid eyes on him…_

_She remembered when he was placed in Slytherin, and then she was placed in Gryffindor…_

_She remembered thinking just before that, she wanted to be a Slytherin, just like that boy sitting in the crowd with white blonde hair and deep blue-grey eyes…_

_And before she was announced a Gryffindor, he flashed her a very small smile._

Rebecca saw the exact same _very small smile_ on a more mature face. And this time it didn't disappear from his face.

It stayed exactly where it was as she returned the small smile. It was only then that she realised way back on the very first day of her first year of Hogwarts that she didn't want to be a Slytherin just like that boy. She just wanted to be _with_ the Slytherin boy.

Draco leaned down and kissed her. He kissed her gingerly, smiling into it.

He cupped her jaw with one hand, his other on the small of her back which brought her closer to him. She stood on her toes and lifted her arms around his neck, bringing him closer to her still. His soft and warm lips moved against hers sweetly. The longer they stood there, the more passionate the unlikely pair became.

Then what most girls dream of happened. They moved out from under the archway. Now absolutely _everything_ was perfect for the both of them. They were kissing in the pouring down rain with nothing more than lust on their minds. Rebecca felt him flinch as the cold shards of water first hit them, but it seemed as though nothing was going to stop them very soon. They stood there for minutes, becoming more intimate.

One of his hands roamed her back, the other holding her to him as close as possible, while her own were knotted into his very wet, messy hair. Their lips moved against each other with ease, as they felt the warmth radiate from each other's bodies in the cold rain.

Standing in the middle of the rain gave Rebecca goosebumps from head to toe. There'd never been anything like this before. They appeared to have found a way of relaying their thoughts to each other wordlessly. They wanted each other.

They broke apart for the first time, only because the rain got heavier and the roaring got louder. Rebecca's hands slipped from around Draco's neck to rest on his shoulders, and his fell to rest on her hips. They looked at each other expressionless, unsure of the crime they had just committed.

Rebecca smiled at him, careless. She saw a sparkle in, not his grey, but blue-grey eyes.

"Listen, neither of us will breathe a single word about this to anyone, right?" He instructed instead of asked. Rebecca could hear it in his words and see it in his eyes that he said that only coming from nothing more than worry. She knew exactly what he meant. Reputations.

"My lips are sealed." She promised, rubbing some of the mud off his cheek.

"Do you want me to make sure of that?" He smirked, leaning down to kiss her on the lips over and over again.

"After all... It is... Important." He gently murmured between each kiss.

"Don't worry, I promise." She murmured, their foreheads pressed together.

"See you in the dungeons on Monday." He reluctantly pulled away from her and left for Slytherin house as she did Gryffindor.

Rebecca ran all the way, feeling like she could sing from the rooftops despite the storm of butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. She felt like the happiest girl alive, glowing she presumed, as she skipped through the portrait hole and entered the Common Room to find everyone who had played hide and seek looking quite stressed.

"Rebecca!" Numerous voices yelled out, some in surprise, others in relief. Everyone stared at her with wide eyes. She stood there, dripping wet and covered in mud, assuming she'd left a lovely mess in the corridors for Filch to find.

"Bec, you look atrocious!" Hermione gasped. She looked at the group in surprise and they all seemed to agree.

"Really?" She breathed, as it was the last thing she expected. She certainly didn't feel atrocious.

"Oh yeeaahh…!" One of the twins confirmed.

"You're absolutely soaked and covered in mud." The other explained quickly.

Rebecca felt herself blush. She looked down at her bare, muddy feet, embarrassed.

"Where have you been?" Hermione asked in a mother-like way.

"I was, umm… hiding." She tried.

"Outside!" Seamus near shouted.

"We were supposed to stay on this floor." Harry reminded her.

"I know, but Filch got so close that we- I! … just kept running." No one appeared to notice that she had nearly given herself away.

"We all came straight back here. We thought you might've had at least that much sense." Ron told her. She decided she must have had no sense, running around with Draco Malfoy and lying to her friends about it.

"We were about to send out a search party!" Dean added.

"Really? Why? I haven't been-"

"It's almost been an hour! It's midnight." Ginny interrupted.

"An hour?" She raised her eyebrows.

"We thought something serious might've happened. We figured if Filch had caught you, regardless of giving you a detention, he'd still send you back here." Hermione said.

"I'm here now." She sighed, exasperated and still smiling.

"…Why are you so happy? … And out of breath?" Hermione asked suspiciously. Rebecca folded her arms across her chest and bit her lip to try and stop smiling.

"I'm not." She answered feebly. She felt the embarrassment of the entire group zoning in on her, regardless that they were friends.

"And now you're blushing…" George noted. Everything went silent for a few seconds until she smiled again.

"…What happened?" Fred asked. She almost laughed, closing one hand over her mouth quickly. She shrugged. The twins narrowed their eyes at her, joining Hermione who already was.

"I'm, uh, freezing... I'll, um, see you all in the morning." Rebecca said quickly, crossing the room quickly and running up the stairs. She made it to her dormitory's bathroom and locked the door before any of the girls could get to her.

She took herself by surprise as soon as she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She was soaked to the bone, her hair hung limp, and she had mud stricken and flung everywhere.

She dumped her soaking clothes in a pile and had a very long and hot shower, trying to comb all the mud out of her hair. By the time she was done and had crept back into the dorm, everyone was asleep. She wondered if Draco had friends wait up for him.

"What were you really doing?" Rebecca was scared stiff when she reached her bed. She turned around to see Hermione propped up in her own bed waiting for her to answer. Her jaw locked.

"Like I said… hiding."

"Oh come on, I know you, Bec. You can't lie to save your life!" She said.

"I'm tired. Good night, Hermione." Rebecca tried to escape, hiding under the blankets. Hermione gave up quickly once she figured Rebecca was determined on not answering her.

Rebecca lay there in silence, thinking. She always wondered _why_ for the past _five years_, why was he still in her head? Why wasn't he leaving? What did any of it mean?

Now she knows why. She knows why he is _still_ in her head. She knows why he isn't _leaving_. Now she knows what any of it _means_.

Because she was learning very quickly that there was much more to Draco Malfoy than the eye could see, and that's what she could see all along. That's what made him so fascinating.

That night Rebecca fell asleep dreaming of the boy, with white blonde hair and the once more blue-grey eyes, Draco Malfoy.

She fell asleep dreaming of the kiss that wrote a secret.


	16. Chapter 16

Most people Rebecca knew tended to sleep in on a Sunday. Especially herself. But this morning she seemed prone to every little sound, like it would set off a ticking bomb. Every time someone shuffled around or opened a door she would wake up, although she pretended to stay asleep.

She really didn't want to face today. She was pretty sure all her friends had a feeling that she wasn't just hiding last night. She really didn't want them to get any more ideas. But no matter what should happen, it was still going to remain a secret. She promised. No matter how bad the lies may be. Not only was Rebecca bad at telling lies, but she hated doing it. That's why she generally tended to come straight out with the truth.

But these were her friends. She trusted them and they trusted her. The more Rebecca thought about it, the worse it seemed to get. She had no clue what she had gotten herself into. If her friends ever found out, she doubted they would forgive her very easily.

She laid there in silence for a moment, trying to ignore her thoughts. She couldn't hear anything else. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around the dorm. She was alone.

She took that opportunity to crawl out of bed and get dressed. She tidied herself up a little and made her way to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Rebecca spotted her friends at the Gryffindor table and tried to join them as subtly as possible. She sat down next to Parvati, who hadn't said anything last night. She spoke easily with Parvati, who didn't even mention last night which Rebecca was glad for.

When breakfast was almost over, a Ravenclaw boy she knew came and sat next to her. He was concentrated entirely on her, which caused her to become a little sceptical. His name was Brad Taylor. He was a good looking boy, tall and well-built with blue eyes and black spiky hair, and one gorgeous smile which she knew other girls swooned for.

They had gotten to know each other a bit last year, and for a little while Rebecca may have even liked him as a bit more than a friend. Another boy with a bit of a reputation, he was. There were obvious reasons for him being placed in Ravenclaw. He was very smart and witty. But he was cunning and he could change quickly. Rebecca guessed his second option would have been Slytherin.

"Hey, Bec, long time no see." He greeted her cheerfully.

"Hey, Brad."

"How's life treating you?" He asked casually, resting his arms on the table. Rebecca glanced at him warily. There was no way he would know. Rebecca knew he held a strong dislike for Draco too.

"Good. How about you? How've you been?" She finally answered him.

"Good. Actually, I'm feeling a little lucky today." Rebecca found that odd.

"Oh?" She hesitated.

"How would you like to go to the dance with me on Saturday?" He asked straight up. Rebecca was actually quite surprised.

"Umm…" She looked past Brad for only a moment to see Draco sitting at the next table with Pansy Parkinson basically hanging off of his arm. She felt a small pang of jealousy shoot through her. He only ever said to keep the kiss a secret. She was still single. She could do whatever she wanted. Rebecca wasn't even quite sure what last night meant.

Brad was only asking her to a dance. Harmless. And if she went with him, it would make everyone else feel better, she guessed. Rebecca thought it would be like a little charade almost, and it would stop her from thinking about her secret all the time. If anyone asked she could say something about Brad. She could just forget all about it. Brad was her answer.

"Yeah, sure. I'd like that." She smiled at Brad, who sent his gorgeous smile right back.

"Great! So I'll see you later?"

"Yeah. See you later." And he got up and left again.

"Nice, Bec!" Parvati grinned, ecstatic for her.

"Yeah, he's a real catch!" Fred, who apparently had been listening from across the table, added. They then proceeded to talk about the dance again before people started to fade from the Great Hall. Rebecca finally felt brave enough to confront the rest of her friends now that she had a little back up story she could use.

* * *

"How much longer?"

"What do you _mean_ how much longer?"

"How much longer until we're done?"

"You mean you don't know?" Rebecca turned around to face Draco who was rested up in a chair with his feet up on the table. He shrugged.

"Are you telling me that _I've_ done all the work because you don't know where we're up to?"

"I did just tell you what to do next, didn't I?" He pointed out.

"Then why are you asking?" She asked, annoyed at his sudden arrogance.

"Because I didn't read all the way to the end." He answered simply. Rebecca groaned loudly and ran her hands slowly over her face in frustration. They were currently down in the dungeons on Friday afternoon, the day before the ball. They had been in there for about an hour doing the Amortentia potion, the most powerful love potion in the world, which they had started at the beginning of the week.

Rebecca slumped down into a chair across the table from Malfoy.

"So… how much longer?" He asked again. Feeling very irritated, Rebecca finally answered him.

"It'll be done about Sunday morning." She droned. He nodded simply in response. He still had his feet on the table and was gently rocking on his chair creating a quiet, rhythmic tapping sound, absent mindedly tying little knots in a piece of cotton he must have pulled off his shirt. Rebecca sighed and laid her head to rest on her arms which were folded on the table. She closed her eyes and listened to the slow beat of Draco's chair tapping and the low thrum of the potion simmering in the background. All of a sudden she felt very relaxed and may have almost fallen asleep.

"You're going to the ball with Brad Taylor, aren't you?" Draco's voice quickly interrupted her sleepy thoughts. She raised her head in surprise, only to see him still concentrating on tying knots in the cotton thread.

"What's it matter to you? You're going with the Parkinson, right?" She said defensively, wondering how he perceived their relationship. He didn't answer.

"I'm just letting you know now, you're not going with the right guy." He murmured casually.

"And I don't suppose you know who the right guy is? There's nothing wrong with him." Rebecca responded, sitting back in her chair. Draco finally looked up at her. This would normally be the point where he smirks and says something stupid. But nothing. He looked at her with an expression like she had just said something serious. He took his feet off the table and leaned on it instead.

"Anyone would be better than him." He said in a low voice. Rebecca had several classes with Brad, and they had been talking all week. They were a little more than acquaintances, and so far there'd been nothing bad about him. He appeared to be a good guy.

"I really don't see why." She shook her head. "He's been nothing but nice and friendly to me all week."

"You want to know why? It's because he's a suck up." Draco interjected. Rebecca looked at him suspiciously. They had barely spoken at all this week, not even while working on the potion. He was avoiding her. Then something clicked.

"Are you jealous?" Rebecca asked, leaning forward again.

"What? No. Why would I be?" He appeared a little taken aback.

"Because I'm going to the ball with someone else and not you. You've been avoiding me all week!" Rebecca concluded.

"I didn't want to get involved by trying to talk you out of it." He answered.

"Out of what? What do you know that I don't?" She asked, completely confused.

"Taylor is a jerk. He's playing a game. It's a stupid joke. Don't come crying to me 'cos I'll only say I told you so. See you on Sunday morning." And with that he scooped up his few belongings and left the dungeons.

_What game? What's the joke? I don't get it! Why must Malfoy be so vague?_ Rebecca thought angrily as he left her. She cleaned up and put the potion away before heading back to Gryffindor tower. She passed a few people who were on their way to the Great Hall for dinner. She hadn't realised how long they had been down there. She hurried a little faster to find only Hermione waiting in the Common Room for her. She honestly thought she would have no friends lately if it wasn't for her. She was too busy with Draco all the time.

She ran up to the dorm and threw her books onto her bed before meeting Hermione back in the Common Room. She began talking as they left through the portrait hole.

"How is your assignment getting along with Malfoy?" She asked kindly.

"Just like any other I guess." Rebecca shrugged.

"It must suck having to do such a big assignment with him" She said "Is he still just as bad after hours?" She asked in a joking sort of way. "I mean, this assignment goes for a few months. How much time you have to spend with him!" She said, laughing uncomfortably at what she thought was Rebecca's unfortunate fate.

That got Rebecca thinking, though. How much longer did she actually have left with him? Until school is finished, at the end of next year? She might never see him _again_ after that. Maybe in the occasional newspaper? She knew very well that his father, Lucius Malfoy, a renowned Death Eater working for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had definitely been there a lot over the past year_._ In fact, he had been sent to Azkaban at the end of the last school year.

No! Rebecca never wanted to see Draco in a newspaper like his father. She wanted to change him, she wanted to spend time with him, she wanted to-

"Rebecca?" Hermione interrupted her racing thoughts. Rebecca looked at her.

"Um…" She sighed. She rubbed the heels of her hands into her eyes. They had stopped walking.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked warily.

"I don't know where to start, Hermione." Rebecca said, giving into one of her best friends.

"There's this one person on my mind _all the time_, and it's driving me crazy! Sometimes I feel like I'd be willing to do anything for him, I want to. I want to show him what it's like to laugh and have fun, and see the sun every day. I think he can, if he just wasn't so uptight about his stupid reputation! If he let it go for just two seconds, he'd be living his life more than he ever has before.

"Sometimes he makes it hard to breathe, think, speak or sleep. But I feel so clueless. Because I love how he does that. I want to fight for him, but I don't know what I'm fighting against. I want the best for him whether I'm included or not, and I don't know why. But I don't know anyone else who might do that for him.

"I don't know what to think, I don't know what to do… I just, _really,_ need some advice. I still don't know whether I should fall for him or not. And worse of all I don't know what's going on inside his head. I mean, the other night he… well… _then_ I was something close to ninety-nine percent sure. But now I'm ninety-nine percent sure he doesn't like me at the moment, I don't know what I've done, but… it's only that one percent that keeps me hanging on." Rebecca rushed out and sighed loudly. She felt a great weight lift from her, like it was a burden. It wasn't the burden of one night. It was the burden that had been building for the last five years which she had only just begun to understand over the past couple of weeks.

"Is this one person...Draco Malfoy?" Hermione asked gently. Rebecca nodded, still not finding the strength to look up yet. She knew Hermione would figure it out. She'd been suspicious since Hogsmeade, at least. Maybe even before then if Rebecca knew Hermione at all. They started walking again.

"Well… personally, I don't know if or why you should fall for him. But what I do know… if you can't get someone out of your head, maybe they're supposed to be there." Hermione said. "We'll talk after dinner." She added as they reached the Great Hall.

"Thank you." Rebecca murmured softly. They continued in to join everyone at the Gryffindor table. Rebecca slowly picked through the small portion of dinner she had in front of her. She didn't seem to be so hungry anymore. She sat in silence for most of the time, wondering if her telling Hermione was a good idea at all. She felt a lot better having told someone everything. But she felt guilty too.

Hermione had finished her own meal, and when she noticed that Rebecca had stopped eating, motioned her out of her seat to leave with her. Hermione told everyone they would see them back in the Common Room without any explanation. They left ironically at the same time that Draco left with Blaise Zabini.

"I feel like there's a switch, and it's been on for a long time, but all of a sudden it's on standby. And I just want to flick it. I feel so unsure at the moment." Rebecca told Hermione as they began to walk back to the Common Room.

"As supportive as I am of your choices, I really don't _know _or _understand _how this is happening. Sorry." Hermione began. "But maybe if you expressed yourself a little more he would understand and everything will be more clear. Then you can decide whether to flick the switch on or off.

"What I'd really like to tell you is that if most people knew, they'd say you were mad. I mean, Draco Malfoy." Hermione cracked a smile with worry present in her eyes. "I, um, don't mean to offend you or anything... but... half-blood, and-"

"Don't worry about that part." Rebecca said quickly, taking no offence.

"Okay..." Hermione said, not really understanding. Rebecca had only explained how she felt and all the problems that were rolling around her head. She didn't even mention his name. Hermione just knew, because she was smart and hardly ever missed a beat. Rebecca hadn't told her about how she may be something else with Draco already. Because she promised. Hermione still remained near clueless.

"Just be careful, okay? This is Draco Malfoy we're talking about, and I don't want to see you get hurt. Find out. Please don't fall for someone unless they're willing to catch you." She finished. Rebecca thought about it. Hermione was a very logical person, while Rebecca was more literal.

"That's the most valuable thing I've heard all day. Thank you." Rebecca smiled, extremely grateful for Hermione's surprising support

"Any time." She replied.

"Never repeat any of this." Rebecca quickly demanded of her friend.

"Of course." Hermione understood perfectly well. They continued walking a little further and rounded a corner to see Draco and Blaise walking a little ahead of them.

"So… find out, you said?" Rebecca asked playfully.

"Umm, yes." Hermione frowned.

"Okay," Rebecca breathed as she quietly caught up to Draco and Blaise. Hermione remained behind, looking on in horror.

"Whoa!" Rebecca yelled out as she tripped over one of Draco's feet on purpose. She never got to finish falling. Draco had wrapped his hands around her tightly to prevent her from hitting the ground. He was literally willing to catch her.

Rebecca had definitely taken him by surprise. He blinked as he registered what had just happened before clearing his throat.

"Whyte." He said glumly as he set her gently upright once more.

"Malfoy." She replied. They looked at each other warily for a quick minute, Blaise watching on in sheer surprise but struggling to hide an amused smile.

"Um, thanks." Rebecca mumbled bashfully. Even though she had done it on purpose she still felt the colour rush to her cheeks. Draco nodded once, giving her a once over questionably and continued off down the corridor with Blaise. She watched after them as Hermione quickly caught up to her, looking terrified, but Rebecca thought she might be retaining laughter. Rebecca smiled meekly at her.

"Well, I fell and he caught me." She said,

"You know I didn't mean that literally, right?" Hermione asked quickly in a hushed, disapproving voice.

"Of course. No harm in having a little fun though, right? That's the sort of thing he needs." Rebecca said as she watched him disappear.

They continued on to Gryffindor tower, Hermione scolding Rebecca on the way. Rebecca laughed a little, regardless of how displeased Hermione seemed to be.

Everyone went to bed early that night as they had a big day coming up the next day; a quidditch match followed by the 'Springtide' ball. As Rebecca lay in her bed, she recalled her latest incident with Draco. She couldn't help but think that if he was literally going to catch her, he might metaphorically as well. This thought allowed her to drift off to sleep a little easier.


	17. Chapter 17

"Rebecca! Wake up!" Rebecca heard. She groaned in tiredness and rolled over in time to see Demelza Robins drop her quidditch gear on top of her feet. She instantly sat upright.

"Oh my god! I completely forgot! What time is it? Isn't it too early to get ready for it?" Rebecca panicked in a croaky voice. The other girls in the shared dormitory were still asleep.

"No. They moved the match to this morning because of the ball tonight, remember? Now you'd better hurry up and get ready, everyone's waiting down stairs." Demelza said as she left the room. Rebecca jumped out of bed with all the energy she could muster so early and grabbed the gear to get changed. She pulled her hair back and ran down the spiral stairs to find the rest of the team waiting for her.

"Nice of you to join us, Bec." Harry noted as soon as she arrived.

"Sorry." She mumbled, a little embarrassed.

"Okay, so a quick breakfast and then everyone down on the pitch to warm up." Harry instructed before the team left for the Great Hall.

"Aye, aye, Captain." The twins saluted.

Harry wasn't joking when he said a quick breakfast. Fifteen minutes later the team were mounting their brooms and ready to warm up. They had gone over tactics and their Slytherin opponents at the table. Demelza, Rebecca and Dean Thomas (who had been selected to replace Katie Bell) as the chasers played a mini game as a last minute practice against the beaters: the twins, and Harry, their seeker while Ron was the keeper for both sides. They played as tips and even more tactics were thrown around as people began to fill up the stands.

Before they knew it Madam Hooch had blown her whistle, signalling the Gryffindor team out of the air and to the centre of the field. Rebecca hadn't known where the Slytherin team had been, because they had only just marched out onto the field. It was the first time the Gryffindor teams had been able to see the new Slytherin team this year.

Draco Malfoy was still the seeker, as he had been for several years now, and nobody was surprised to find that Crabbe and Goyle were the beaters again. The Gryffindors found this amusing; it appeared Draco had bodyguards on and off the field. Blaise Zabini was a new chaser, as was Vaisey and Urquhart, who was surprisingly the captain. Rebecca didn't know the keeper.

Madam Hooch repeated what she usually did before every quidditch game, and specifically warned the Slytherins of cheating and foul play as they were known to do it before. Rebecca's eyes were glued to Draco's face the entire time, nearly immune to whatever it was Madam Hooch was saying. As soon as Draco noticed, he wagged his eyebrows at her, and Madam Hooch blew her whistle to commence the game. As Rebecca was caught up with Draco's distracting gesture, she was a split second behind everyone else to kick off the ground.

* * *

Rebecca thought the game had been going for at least half an hour, probably more. She thought it would have to be an exciting first game of the year if she had been the usual spectator this year. It was her first ever quidditch game at Hogwarts and the competition was good. The score was currently seventy to fifty, Gryffindor's way. It looked like the Slytherin keeper needed more practice. Rebecca herself had easily slipped past him a couple of times.

Throughout the game it appeared Rebecca and Draco were silently communicating without anyone noticing. Rebecca would wink at him every time she scored a goal, and he'd wag his eyebrows or something that was just so typical of Draco, like smirk at her as he flew past.

Rebecca was making her way up the field again with Demelza and Dean, going for their eighth score. Demelza had just passed Rebecca the quaffle again and she aimed for one of the lower hoops. The keeper's speed and agility seemed to be getting better as the game progressed. He caught it and threw it back out to one of his Slytherin teammates.

Rebecca hovered in the air for a quick moment, the sun shining overhead brightly. The other two chasers raced past her. Draco was stationary near the middle, scanning the field for the snitch. Rebecca watched him and he finally looked right back to her. He looked at her with an unusual expression playing around on his face as all the buzz and excitement of other teammates and the cheering crowd seemed to disappear. Rebecca thought she'd been here before.

Suddenly, Rebecca was snapped back into reality, quicker than she could think, to the numerous voices yelling out her name in what sounded like fear. She may have even heard screaming as the expression on Draco's face quickly faded into shock. Rebecca didn't even get the time to turn around, it all happened so fast. All she could remember was a loud crash and a sharp pain in the back of her head.

* * *

Rebecca didn't know what had happened, let alone how she got there. She just woke up to the sound of clinking glasses and liquid being poured, some people talking a little further away. Her eyes fluttered, straining to stay open when all she could see was a very bright light that slowly turned into her surroundings. Her heart beat sped up, sounding like a loud pounding noise in her head which caused it to throb in pain. She felt a massive wave of heat roll through her like it was the first time her body had moved in a long time. Her breathing picked up as she felt like she was beginning to panic from her new state.

She sat upright quickly, trying to think and see straight, which only brought on a huge headache. She squinted her eyes shut in agony, her head feeling really heavy. She accidentally made a funny squeaking sound which caught someone's attention.

"Oh! Are you alright, dear?" She heard a lady ask her as she placed a hand on her back in an attempt to comfort or steady her. Rebecca felt a bit delirious. She heard the people stop talking as she slowly began to relax herself. She reopened her eyes again and blinked a few times as they adjusted to the light.

Rebecca easily recognised the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey as the lady trying to talk to her. Across the room was the rest of the quidditch team, who she presumed were the ones who were talking just a moment ago. They were all watching her.

"Miss Whyte? How are you feeling?" Madam Pomfrey asked again. Rebecca turned to look at her,

"… A _really _bad headache..." She croaked, clearing her voice.

"Yes, we all would have expected that." She replied as she turned for a quick moment to the bottles and glasses on a trolley beside her. She finished what she had started and handed a glass half full of an amber coloured liquid."Here, this will get rid of it."

Rebecca very gratefully drank all of it very quickly. It didn't really have a taste. It could have passed for water, apart from the thickness of it. Just as she was passing her the glass again a funny sort of feeling filled her throat. It felt like she had swallowed a potent liquid which glazed over her throat, and she began to cough.

By the time she had coughed some more and swallowed a few times in an attempt to clear her throat, her headache had disappeared completely. The rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team were now standing next to and at the foot of her bed.

"What _the hell_ happened?" Rebecca asked, as no one had told her yet.

"You were uh, hit in the head. With a bludger… by one of the Slytherin beaters." Fred said, scratching his head. Rebecca raised her eyebrows. Crabbe or Goyle?

"Really?" She asked, slightly in disbelief.

"Yeap. Pretty hard, too." George replied.

"Well… what happened?" She asked.

"You got hit in the head. Was it really _that_ hard? We just told you." Ron said. Rebecca rolled her eyes as Dean Thomas laughed at him.

"I mean how did I get here. Why didn't I hit the ground? I don't feel very broken."

"Let's just say thank god Harry's a really fast seeker." Demelza answered.

"Oh. Thanks, Harry." Rebecca smiled. He nodded, smiling in return.

"Okay, you'll all have to leave now. Miss Whyte will be able to join you shortly." Madam Pomfrey said as she ushered the team away. Rebecca didn't really want them to leave.

Madam Pomfrey began talking to her. Apparently she had been unconscious for about half an hour and she had been worried because it seemed to be taking a long time for Rebecca to come around by herself. Madam Pomfrey checked her eyesight and hearing, and told her to be careful of the big bump on the back of her head which was bruising and to take things slowly.

"Will I still be able to go to the dance tonight?" Rebecca finally asked. She really didn't want to have to miss that of all things.

"I'd say so, but we're about to find out." Madam Pomfrey said as she pushed her trolley to the side."Come on, dear, let's see how stable you are on your feet." Rebecca got out of the bed gingerly as a precaution.

"Let's just see you walk to the other side of the room and back." She instructed. Rebecca walked steadily to avoid any stumbling over thin air so she could get out of there all the more faster. When she reached the bed again, Madam Pomfrey signed something off and said she was free to go. She thanked her before heading back to the Gryffindor tower.

Rebecca stepped through the portrait hole and into the common room. There were only boys. Not _one_ girl. She stopped and looked at the Weasley twins among their group of friends.

"Umm…" She didn't quite know what to say.

"If I were you, I'd be _really_ scared to go up there." Fred said. Rebecca blinked before realising what was going on.

"Oh, come on, Fred. Where's the fun in being a girl otherwise?" She laughed, "If you're all so scared I'll make sure it's all worth it then, eh?" Rebecca winked before heading up the stairs that lead to the girls' dormitories.

Nearly every door was open. There were girls walking in and out of rooms and up and down the corridor. Everyone was currently dressed in bathrobes or had towels draped around them. There was lots of makeup and accessories being passed around, and the whole place smelt _really _nice.

Rebecca manoeuvred in and out of girls all the way to her own dorm, which also had the door wide open. She stepped inside, looking a mess compared to what everyone else did. She sighed and blew a piece of hair out of her face.

"Bec!" Someone yelled out just as she was embraced by Hermione.

"Are you alright? How are you feeling?" She asked hurriedly, fussing over her.

"I'm fine." She answered, a little overwhelmed. They chatted for a little bit before Hermione decided for Rebecca that she should get out of her quidditch clothes and have a shower. By the time she returned back into the dorm it was just coming on to three o'clock in the afternoon. They still had ages left to get ready. She entered with a towel wrapped around herself.

"Bec! Quick, I can't do this!" Parvati called her over. She smiled. Rebecca took over styling Hermione's hair for her as Parvati moved onto Lavender Brown's makeup. It was like that all afternoon and well into the evening; continuously rotating around on each other's hair and makeup, some of the younger girls too.

It was just about ten past six, and after an extremely girly afternoon, they were finally zipping up their dresses and tightening the straps on their shoes.

Rebecca had watched everyone transform over the past few hours, and they all looked extremely beautiful. But she still hadn't seen herself at all.

She walked into the bathroom to see herself in the mirror.

Rebecca drew in a sharp breath. She didn't know what to say. She thought she actually looked… pretty. Beautiful even. She had hardly expected it.

She was wearing her blue sparkly dress with her little silver heels. The girls had left her hair out in graceful blonde curls and had dressed her blue eyes to stand out. Rebecca had added sparkly silver ball-like earrings and a bright silver bangle. She thought she hardly looked like herself.

Hermione began telling everyone it was time to leave. Walking into the Common Room Rebecca saw all the boys that had been there before, except now they had cleaned up and dressed well. She spotted the twins.

"My, my... some dashing girls coming our way." Fred said.

"Spiffing, if you will." George added.

"I told you it would all be worth it, didn't I?" Rebecca said as she walked past with Hermione, Parvati and Lavender Brown.

"Too right you were, m'lady." Fred said, acting out tipping his hat, though he wasn't wearing one.

On their way to the Great Hall they encountered plenty of other students and everyone looked fabulous. It was already a lot of fun just to see how every had spruced themselves up. They were all very excited. It was going to be a beautiful night. They gathered around outside in the entrance hall while their dates gradually took them in. It wasn't a moment later until someone snuck up behind Rebecca.

"Hello. Don't you look very pretty tonight." Rebecca heard Brad compliment as she turned around, feeling her cheeks heat up. She smiled. He looked very handsome himself; simply in black dress robes and his sharp, dark hair spiked up with a cheeky grin to top it off.

"Hey. Not so bad yourself." Rebecca replied.

"May I do the honours?" He asked her graciously as he held out his hand. She took it eagerly and they turned to make their way into the Great Hall.

The hall was decorated fabulously. All the long tables had been removed. Instead there were small round tables spread out in the first half of the great hall with matching white flowers for centrepieces, the second half left open for the dance floor. There were long refreshment tables dressed in white along the sides of the first half of the grand room. Where the teachers' table was usually was a stage set up with various microphones and other musical equipment for the bands that were playing. There were huge streamer decorations on the walls and the enchanted ceiling was now creating a beautiful starry night illusion.

The beginning of the Springtide Ball was a lot of fun. Rebecca and Brad had a few dances, chatted, had something to drink and maybe even flirted a little. It was turning out to be more like a party.

It had only been an hour and they had already begun to drift off and start talking and dancing with their own friends.

"Bec!" Rebecca heard a high pitched voice yell over the noise as she turned to see Demelza Robins pushing past the last few people between them.

"Hey, Demelza." Rebecca smiled. Demelza was dressed neatly in purple, and looked just as good as everyone else. She was a year below Rebecca, but they had begun to know each other better.

"Wow, you look beautiful." She said admiringly as she sat down beside Rebecca at one of the small round tables.

"Thank you," Rebecca beamed, and told her she did too.

"How's your head? It looked pretty bad." She fussed, just like everyone else she had seen this evening. They hadn't run into each other in the long process of getting ready and had the chance to catch up since being in the hospital wing earlier that day.

"I'm fine. I didn't even know what had happened until you guys told me. It's just a bump. So who did you come with and where is he?" Rebecca chirped, changing the subject. Demelza told her about a boy in her year and tried to point him out among the crowd. In the process of trying to sneak a glimpse of him, Rebecca's eyes stumbled upon Draco standing on the edge of the hall with Blaise. She hadn't seen him once this evening until now. Rebecca thought he looked smart. He wore black pants and a white long sleeved shirt with a black tie and a black sleeveless waist coat.

"And I could ask you the same question." Demelza smiled, interrupting Rebecca's thoughts.

"Brad Taylor. I don't know where he is. He hasn't really been the best date I've ever had." Rebecca shrugged, finally admitting to herself.

"What? Why not?" Demelza asked sorrily.

"I don't really know. We've had a dance, and now it's like there's nothing left to do." Rebecca explained.

"You should just go find him, have another dance. It'll be alright." Demelza encouraged her, standing up as her date came to retrieve her. Rebecca watched her return to the crowd before deciding to take her advice. She didn't have to look very far. She'd only crossed half the dance floor before she saw him with a bunch of his friends over on one side of the hall, all laughing and joking around. A couple of them spun him around to see her. He smiled and Rebecca gave him a questioning look before he set his drink down on the table, said something to his mates and crossed the room to her.

The bands were now playing slower songs as the evening turned later. Brad lead her a little further onto the dance floor where he started to dance with her. It was basic small talk until he leant a little closer and murmured in her ear.

"Okay, I need you to do me a favour." Rebecca nodded in response.

"I need you to put a good word in with your friend Lavender for me… we could be hooked by the end of the night, if you know what I mean." Rebecca released her hands from his shoulders.

"…What…?" She breathed.

"You know. Say something to her for me." He clarified.

"Is this a joke?"

"Umm, no." Rebecca took a couple of steps back as she slid out of his grip. She shook her head and blinked as her eyes began to water, being mislead and feeling betrayed. Her perfect night had turned into a disaster. She had been nothing more than used over the past week and she hadn't even known.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that." She stated bravely before turning around to leave. She moved to the side of the room to get out a little faster. She walked past Brad's mates who were all laughing and jeering at him, making snide and rude comments. They were all in on it. It was all a setup and it made her feel terrible and rejected.

Rebecca rushed a little faster to leave the Great Hall now as the tears began to spill over. She saw Draco for the second time tonight, standing amidst a few of the tables and still talking to Blaise, right before she swiftly left through the giant oak doors. She was pretty sure he saw her too.

It was a lot quieter outside in the corridors. There was fresh air out here. Rebecca continued to walk quickly away from the Great Hall. She made it a corridor away before she thought she heard a sort of scratching on stone, a bit like footsteps. She looked behind her, not stopping, but didn't see anyone. She walked a little faster. When she reached the corner she thought she heard more footsteps and maybe a voice. She stopped this time and turned around fully to see. Still nothing. She sniffed as she bent down and slid her heels off her sore feet and she ran. She ran all the way to the court yard with the fountain.

It was even better outside. It was a very clear and still night, allowing Rebecca to see every star there was to see. It was also nice and balmy, not a slight breeze. The only source of light was the glowing white light of the moon, and the only sound to be heard was the bubbling and splashing of the fountain. She slowly crossed the courtyard, reaching the other side of the fountain. She gently raked her fingers through the surface of the water, thinking about Brad before falling in a heap by the fountain. She leaned her back against the stone and brought her knees to her chest, dropping her shoes beside her.

Then she was free to let the waterworks flow however they pleased. She was sobbing. She felt wrong and horribly used. It was a terrible feeling. And the night was still young.

It wouldn't have been more than just a couple of minutes later when she was interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

"Uh…" They sounded a bit unsure. Rebecca wiped her eyes before turning around. There stood Draco with his hands in his pockets, indeed looking quite unsure. Rebecca sniffed once more before he took the last few steps between them and held out his hand. Rebecca placed her own in his and he pulled her up off the ground. He looked at her hand and then back at her face.

"You painted your nails." He said as he ran his thumb over them. Rebecca nodded. He let go of her hand, putting his own back in his pockets awkwardly.

"This is what you were talking about the other day, wasn't it? Taylor's stupid game?" Rebecca asked, sounding very upset.

"Yeah." Draco reluctantly nodded.

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

"You wouldn't have listened. The least I could do was warn you before you decided I was a complete jerk for telling you something about Taylor that you would've thought wasn't true." He explained. He was right. Rebecca probably wouldn't have believed him.

"Well, just so you know, I didn't come crying to you like you said I would." She said.

"I know. I came after you. But you're still crying, and it's not going to stop me from saying I told you so." He said. Rebecca looked at him, gesturing for him to say it already.

"I _told_ you so." He said blandly. Rebecca couldn't help but laugh mildly. Draco smiled. Rebecca sniffed yet again. Draco looked at her funnily,

"What's this black stuff on your face?" He asked as he reached out and rubbed his thumb underneath her eye. Rebecca did the same to her other eye, not knowing what he was talking about.

"It's mascara." She said stupidly as he inspected his thumb. He looked at her questionably.

"It's _what?_"

"Eye makeup. When you cry it runs." She filled him in, laughing at his cluelessness.

"You haven't seen it before?" She asked him. He paused for a second,

"…I don't usually stick around when girls cry. I'd say this is a first." He admitted. Now Rebecca looked at him funnily. He quickly changed the subject.

"How's your head? Quite the beating you took today."

"It's just a bump. A really big bump." She answered him, sick of being asked the same question over and over.

"Well it looks like your team really does need you." He appeared to compliment.

"What? Why?" She asked.

"Because Slytherin won two hundred to eighty."

"Really? Bugger."

He laughed, "What, no one told you?" Rebecca shook her sore head, realising that no one had filled her in on the rest of the game. She would talk to Harry later on.

They remained quiet for a little while, Draco looking around the ground while Rebecca stood fiddling with her bangle.

"Do you want to have a dance?" Draco asked randomly, looking up to her.

"You can dance?" Rebecca looked up at him.

"Yeah, I guess. My mother taught me well."

"That's good then, 'cos I'm really not great."

"I think I'll take that as a yes?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Sure." She smiled, though she tried to hide it. He moved closer to her, placing his hands on her waist as she reached her hands up to his shoulders.

"There's no music." Rebecca whispered.

"It doesn't mean we can't dance. Unless you're willing to sing, of course." He smirked. Rebecca laughed.

"Not likely."

"Well then, may we continue?" He asked. Rebecca nodded, and they began to sway gently. Even though Rebecca wasn't really crying anymore, her eyes still seemed to be watering. She blinked furiously to try and stop it, sniffing.

"Are you going to stop crying anytime soon?" Draco asked as he peered down at her. She smiled, but her eyes watered even more then as they gently spilled over and silently slid down her cheeks. Draco pulled her even closer as though he was trying to comfort her. She laid her head on his chest and his arms tightened around her back. It slowly turned into a hug as they ceased moving and Draco leant down to rest his chin on top of her head.

"Remember the other day when we were in that dress shop and I said there was no way you could pull off that dress?" He murmured quietly. Rebecca nodded, remembering that whole day.

"Well, you can totally pull it off." A small smile appeared on Rebecca's face as she looked up at him. He smiled as well, leaning down to kiss her.

Rebecca remembered thinking it was supposed to be short and sweet, but it was so much more than that. Her arms tightened around his neck again as he held her close, standing on her toes. It wasn't really fast or rough and passionate like last time. It was more of a slow, romantic lust, but pleasurable all the same. They gently broke apart, but still lingered very close.

"All better now?" He whispered. She gave a small nod, pressing her lips together to compress the smile she felt in her cheeks.

"Are you ready to go back?" He asked her. Rebecca felt any sort of smile disappear as she looked up at him once more.

"Umm… I don't know," She muttered, feeling sad all over again.

"We'll have to go back pretty soon. I left Zabini to cover me. I don't quite know what he's going to say." Draco sounded a little worried. Rebecca giggled lightly at the thought.

"Okay then." She finally agreed. "How do I look?" Draco frowned at her before licking his thumb and rubbing off the rest of her running makeup and moved a loose piece of hair back.

"Fine, now." He answered.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"…Yeah." He answered, appearing to double check her.

"Good. Because you're wearing lip gloss." She giggled at the sight.

"What?" He panicked while furiously trying to wipe it off.

"Is it all gone?" He asked quickly. Rebecca rubbed the corner of his mouth to get rid of the last of it and straightened his tie.

"Fine, now." She copied him. He smirked as he realised and turned to go back inside.

"Wait!" Rebecca cried before jogging back over behind the fountain. She scooped up her shoes and ran back to Draco. She held onto him for balance as she pulled them on and then stood up straight.

"Wow. That made a difference. You just gained, what, an inch and a half?" He teased. Rebecca lightly hit his arm, both of them laughing before walking all the way back to the Great Hall.

They reached the entrance and entered as discreetly as they could. Blaise was there, waiting.

"Oh, about time!" He looked really relieved as the pair reached him.

"What happened?" Draco asked him.

"I was just standing here minding my own business, and yours too I guess, and then Snape came over and asks where you ran off to just now. I didn't really have a story straight, so I was just going to say the punch was spiked or something. Then Dumbledore appears out of nowhere and says to Snape that he'll take care of this one. He just asked if you and _her_ were good friends, so I said 'yeah, I guess so'. Then he thought about it for a minute before saying 'I'll tell Professor Snape that, oh, let's say the punch was spiked'. And then he winked at me! That man is _bonkers__,_ I'll tell you!" He rushed, quite bewildered.

"Right… thanks." Draco nodded slowly. Rebecca covered her mouth as she giggled at the uncertainty of the two.

"What _was_ actually going on?" Blaise asked suspiciously.

"None of your business." Draco said calmly. "Now bugger off for a sec." He shooed Blaise away. He seemed a little startled, winking at Rebecca as he left. Draco turned around to face Rebecca once more.

"He's just an idiot." Draco excused quickly now that Blaise was gone. "Are you alright?"

"Thank you for coming after me, Malfoy." Rebecca said, not properly answering him. She looked around, and then reached up to kiss him on the cheek before turning and searching for her friends.

She found most of them sitting at a table on the other side of the hall, closer to the dance floor. She pulled a chair over and sat down between Ron and Hermione. Rebecca noticed Ron have a double take on her.

"Have you been crying?" He asked and everyone suddenly turned to see. Rebecca shrugged, embarrassed by it all. As they asked, she explained what Brad had done.

"So he's not quite the catch after all." Fred concluded as Lavender rounded the table and hugged her, telling her how sorry she was. It was all resolved quickly and the last few songs were purely friends only, having as much fun as they could fit in the limited time they had left. They were some of the last to leave the hall at about eleven thirty. Rebecca hadn't seen Brad once, and that she was thankful for.

Being loud and laughing all the way back to the Gryffindor tower and disturbing many sleeping paintings with her friends, all Rebecca could really think of was how her disastrous night had turned out so well, but also how her secret was now even bigger.


	18. Chapter 18

By the time the large rowdy group had gotten back to the Common Room it all seemed like a fairytale. Rebecca was still feeling quite happy and light on her feet, despite what had happened earlier. The boys headed for bed while the girls lounged around in their dorms for an hour or so more after. There were lots of girly laughs and gossip as they told each other their own stories they had experienced that night. Rebecca of course didn't have much to tell. They already knew about the Brad dilemma, but couldn't figure out why she was so happy. Hermione, however, could read her like a book.

They all woke up late the next morning, it being a Sunday. They eventually lazily made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. It was just like any other Sunday morning, casual and slow. Rebecca sat down next to Harry. They talked quidditch while they ate.

"Thank you again, Harry, for saving me." Rebecca could never be more grateful.

"Don't mention it," He insisted, more than once.

"So... I never found out who won. What was the score?" Rebecca asked, even when she already knew as Draco had told her.

"Slytherin won." He said glumly. "Two hundred to eighty."

"Wow." Said Rebecca, managing to sound surprised.

"You're a valuable part of the team, Bec. It all went downhill after, well..." Harry tried to say.

"So, um... what _exactly_ happened after I was hit? I don't remember anything." Rebecca asked.

"Well, it was Crabbe who hit you. I don't think he meant to. You should have heard it, though. The loudest crack, it was. And the crowd turned ballistic! You were just sitting there, and then you fell right off your broom." Harry began to tell, and Rebecca could feel the aching on the back of her head.

"Everyone just sort of froze, even the other players. I was nearly right under you though, so I managed to land you on my broom and then take you to the ground. Madam Hooch came right over, and then she got Hagrid to take you to the hospital wing." Harry explained and Rebecca listened with great interest.

"Right dead, you looked! All limp, and pale as anything. It was scary, Bec!" Harry said, remembering it vividly.

"Madam Hooch resumed play immediately though, she made us play a player short. We scored another goal, but then Malfoy caught the snitch pretty quickly. You didn't miss much. Except..." Harry trailed off.

"Except?" Rebecca prompted curiously.

"When both teams were leaving the pitch for the change rooms, Malfoy was really getting stuck into Crabbe." Harry said.

"What? What was he saying?" Rebecca asked frowning, very curious now.

"I don't know, I didn't hear all of it. He just sounded like he was telling Crabbe off as though he'd cost them the game. Then their captain came over and reminded him they had won, and Malfoy got snappy at him too. He wasn't very happy. It was really odd." Harry recalled.

"How strange." Rebecca said.

Not long after, Hermione and Rebecca were just leaving the hall when a much larger person ran straight into Rebecca while she was looking the other way. She quickly turned her attention to see Draco grab onto her arms as if to steady her. He bowed his head, puffing heavily as he tried to speak between breaths.

"Thank god I found you!"

"What? Why? What's wrong?" Rebecca panicked, confused.

"I think the potion's done." He puffed.

"Okay…? So it should be. Why do you need me so urgently?" Rebecca asked.

"Because it smells _really_ good. I can't get anywhere near it! And I think it's about to boil over." He explained. Rebecca gasped.

"Quick!" She shouted as Hermione looked at the pair of them like we were insane. Rebecca shrugged Draco's hands off her as she guided him back out of the hall, and then proceeded to run off towards the dungeons. Once they got there they found several people waiting outside the dungeons with the door firmly closed, hands covering their noses and mouths. Rebecca didn't actually think it was going to be _that_ bad, but she pulled her sleeve over her hand and covered her own nose and mouth as a precaution anyway, and Draco copied her. On the count of three, they held their breath and rushed through the door quickly and closed it again.

Draco was certainly right. The potion was bubbling and spitting like mad. The two of them rushed over and Rebecca quickly pulled the small cauldron off the heat as Draco capped a lid on it. The steam that had been rising from it in little decorative swirls disappeared into the air quickly, and so they took their hands away from their airways. Taking in a deep breath for holding it for so long, they looked at each other wide eyed before rushing outside again and closing the door behind them.

"That smells _really_ good." Rebecca said longingly.

"I know." Draco replied in the same manner. Just then Professor Slughorn rushed through the corridor to where everyone was standing outside the dungeons.

"What on earth has happened?" He panicked. Rebecca and Draco looked at each other.

"Uh… that would be us, Professor." Rebecca spoke up quietly. "Our Amortentia potion is ready."

"Oh? So why is everyone standing outside?" He questioned.

"Because it's really quite potent." Draco replied blandly. Slughorn seemed to think quickly before opening the door a tiny bit and smelling the air.

"Oh, no problem at all." He said as he fumbled for his wand and flicked it once, the beautiful smell gone instantly. He opened the door all the way allowing all the students back inside once again.

"Thanks, Professor." Rebecca mumbled apologetically. He appeared to shrug it off without a worry.

"Do you mind if I see your potion?" He asked. Rebecca and Draco looked at each other surprised and he shrugged.

"No, not at all." Rebecca answered. They followed the Professor inside. He took the lid off the cauldron which had settled rapidly. He stirred it and smelt it, analysing it from almost every angle possible before putting the lid back on it.

"I must say, you two have done a fantastic job on this potion! I'd say it's absolutely perfect." He informed them.

"Really?" Rebecca asked excitedly.

"Yes, I may as well give you full marks for it now. Let's just hope that your report will be just as good." He said, turning to leave the dungeons once more.

"Nice." Draco said casually as soon as Slughorn was out of sight. Rebecca shot him a funny look before going to take a look at the potion herself. She lifted the lid only to be instantly attracted to it, slowly leaning closer and closer as if she were trying to get a really good look at it, as though she were in a trance.

"Hey!" Draco snapped loudly as he realised what was happening, pushing her hands which held the lid back onto the cauldron to cap it once again as fast as he could. "There's a reason why they call this potion dangerous, you know." Rebecca's gaze was locked on his hands, waiting for the mesmerising scent to return. She slowly looked up at him. He watched her sternly, awaiting a response. She shrugged.

"Sorry." She mumbled innocently. He seemed to relax a little more then, letting go of her hands.

"So… the only things we need now are the symptoms and an antidote, right?" Rebecca double checked.

"Yes." He sighed as he pulled up a chair.

"So, uh… do you want to be our guinea pig?" She asked hopefully.

"No way. No way in _hell_ am I drinking a love potion." He replied quickly.

"Well _I_ don't want to either." Rebecca whined.

"You're the girl! You're all deep and emotional already!" He attempted to make a point.

"So? You're the boy! Maybe you should experience emotion once in a while." She retorted. He laughed feebly.

"No way! That's a joke. I don't need a love potion to feel emotion."

"Oh yeah? Prove it!"

"I am _happy _right now because I feel like I'm going to win this argument." He smiled smugly. Rebecca frowned at him.

"Are you scared to drink a little potion?" She teased.

"No. You must be though, with the way you're acting." He fired back.

"No way. I just know I'd do a better job at picking out the symptoms than you would."

"I'd do_ just_ as good as you, better even."

"Whatever. What's the _real_ reason you don't want to be the one to sample it?" Rebecca pushed, demanding.

"… I'm not really willing to fall in love right now." He cringed in a quiet but serious tone. He looked away from Rebecca and began fingering the edge of the table uncomfortably. That wasn't quite the answer Rebecca was expecting. She sighed, defeated.

"Well... I'll be the brave one then." She gave in once more. "And it's not really falling in love anyway. For one, it only creates a strong obsession with whoever you're affectionate towards, basically proving you love them."Draco pulled a disgusted face, dividing his attention as he reached for some parchment and a quill.

"And two… I'm not sure how much of an effect it'll have on me anyway." Rebecca mumbled almost inaudibly. Draco suddenly looked up at her.

"What was that last one?" He asked. Rebecca looked at him and pretended she didn't know what he was talking about.

"What was what?" She shrugged.

"You said something."

"Yeah… It basically proves you love them?"

"No. After that."

"… What was what?"

"No! Before that."

"Nothing, I don't know what you're talking about." Rebecca looked away and slid the parchment towards herself and taking the quill from his hand, wrote subheadings.

"Yeah you do. I just don't know if…if I misunderstood you or not." Rebecca looked back up at him curiously.

"What do you think I said?" She asked quizzically.

"I…I thought you said the potion might not have much of an effect on you." He stuttered. Rebecca shrugged without giving him an answer, sliding the parchment back across the table with the quill rested on it.

"You're in love? With who? Does this mean I'm going to have to follow you around while you're gloating after someone?" He asked, pulling another disgusted face.

"I don't know. You'll find out soon enough. So are we doing this today or not?" Rebecca asked a little impatiently, knowing the answer already.

"Uh, y-yeah." He stuttered nervously as he stumbled out of his chair, knocking it over.

"How much of this should you be drinking?" He asked, looking for a glass.

"I don't know. As long as you don't kill me. I don't want to die from being love-sick." She joked.

"That's really funny." He said sarcastically, filling half a glass. He sat down at the table again, picking his chair up as he went. He slid the glass across the table to Rebecca. She watched the small spirals of steam rise and disappear into the air as the beautiful scent engulfed her once more. Draco looked over the subheadings, ready to take notes.

"What does it smell like?" He asked.

"What do you think?" Rebecca stated rather than asked in a monotone voice.

"To _you_, what does it smell like to you?" He clarified. Rebecca knew it was probably the most attractive thing she had ever smelt, but it was only now that she started to pick out each different scent.

"Do I _really_ have to answer that?" She asked after a moment.

"Yes." He smirked, quietly laughing to himself.

"Okay… umm…rain. Freshly baked cakes, uh… strawberries? And um, cologne." Rebecca blushed.

"Oh, really? Any particular sort?" Draco was enjoying himself.

"No." Rebecca lied. It was indeed familiar. Draco laughed.

"You know you didn't even write that question down." Rebecca blushed, her face heating up once more with embarrassment. Draco continued writing down what she had said anyway.

"You can drink it now." He urged slyly.

"I can't believe I'm _actually_ about to drink a love potion. You know, I don't have any problems, you should be the one doing this." Rebecca tried to change his mind.

"Too late, just do it." He pointed to the glass with the quill. Rebecca sighed.

"Please look after me." She mumbled worriedly, feeling quite nervous.

"Okay!" He sounded frustrated. Rebecca picked up the glass and took a mouthful. She instantly felt warm and very happy. Maybe even a little more energetic than she had been, and she thought she felt a lot of heat go to her head. There was only one thing on her mind. Draco Malfoy.

She set the glass back on the table and leant on it, rocking her chair and biting her bottom lip.

"Whoa." Draco breathed before he started to write on the parchment in front of him.

"…Draco…" Rebecca cooed.

"Yeah?" He mumbled without looking up.

"Huh?" She queried.

"What? You said my name." He looked up at her questionably.

"Yeah..." She breathed, appearing quite distant. Draco looked at her funnily.

"Right…" He said as he turned back to the parchment again. Rebecca giggled randomly, feeling very excited. Draco looked up at her again with one eyebrow raised. He looked around the room before quickly putting the parchment and quill away, standing up and grabbing Rebecca by the hand, towing her out of the room behind him. She giggled and blushed, gladly following him.

"Where are we going?" She asked curiously.

"Somewhere where there are not many people." He replied quickly. Rebecca caught up to him so they were now walking hand in hand rather than having him drag her behind him.

"Why?" She squeaked cheerily.

"You said to look after you. If I were you, I'd be embarrassed. You're like high on… love." Draco undoubtedly said a little embarrassed himself.

"Are you kidding? I could never be embarrassed! Everyone should know how much I love you!" Rebecca beamed proudly as they were passing through a main corridor. She saw some of her friends sitting on a bench. She let go of Draco's hand and danced over to them.

"Hi guys!" She smiled broadly.

"Hey… Bec…?" Harry answered uncertainly, knowing that something wasn't quite right with her.

"What exactly has gotten into you?" Hermione asked.

"I'm in love!" Rebecca shouted, throwing her hands into the air enthusiastically.

"What…? Who?" Ron asked. Just then Draco rushed over and wrapped his arm around Rebecca's waist to pull her away.

"Malfoy?" Ron scrunched up his face in surprise and disgust. Rebecca giggled and nodded. Draco turned around to see Ron.

"Weasel." He sneered.

"You're in love with _Malfoy_?" Ron asked again. Draco looked at Ron like he was speaking another language, then at Rebecca and back to everyone else.

"She's had a love potion." He explained plainly, not wanting to hang around.

"I don't care what it was, but I love you!" Rebecca said as she wrapped her arms around him unexpectedly, causing him to jump in surprise.

"Let's go." Draco urged eagerly, avoiding looking directly at the Gryffindors, and forced Rebecca to continue down the corridor. Rebecca turned around to wave goodbye to her friends. They stood up to look past each other at the two of them in wonder, as did many other students because as far as reputations go, they were certainly an odd pair.

"Tell me I'm dreaming!" Harry cried.

"We didn't really just witness _our _Bec declaring her love for _Malfoy,_ did we?" Ron asked hopelessly.

"I'm afraid we did." Hermione mumbled in reply. They all found the situation a little more than unnerving, even when all three of them knew she was under the influence of Amortentia.

"Should we go after her?" Harry asked worriedly, hating the idea of Draco having such control over a close friend of his.

"No, no. She'll be fine..." Hermione shared her false hope. Hermione was the only one reciting the effects of Amortentia in her head, which had her quite worried. The boys seemed oblivious to the fact that Amortentia emphasized the drinker's existing feelings.

Rebecca and Draco steered past the courtyard and down another corridor. They walked past an intersection when they heard a sandy grinding sort of noise. They spun around at the same time to see a mahogany door which wasn't there before. Draco stared in surprise, but continued to the door anyway. Rebecca followed him inside. When the door was closed again it disappeared.

Rebecca looked around the room. It appeared to be a lounge setting. There was a huge crackling fireplace already lit against a wall, with a fluffy rug and a couch directly opposite. Against the walls were shelves, with books and games. It was small and homely, nice and cosy. Draco looked around the room in amazement.

"This isn't the room of requirements, is it?" Rebecca whispered.

"It is." Draco replied out loud."You've never been in here?"

"No," Rebecca shook her head.

"You weren't a part of Potter's little army last year?"

"Nope." She said, popping her 'p'. "I've heard about it though. It only appears when someone's in a great need of something, doesn't it?"

"Yeah."

"...What are we in great need of?" Rebecca asked, looking at him for the first time. Draco shrugged.

"I don't know. But it's a good spot to hang out while you're… under influence." He said as he moved over to the couch. Rebecca followed him, sitting next to him.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because there's no one in here." He replied as though he expected she would have known the answer.

"Oh." She said bluntly.

"'Oh'? What did you think I was going to say?" He looked at her. Rebecca moved down onto the fluffy rug in front of the fire.

"Well yeah, there's no one in here. But we could always do a little more than hang out." She hinted. He raised his eyebrows as though he couldn't believe she had actually said that. He too then moved onto the floor next to her.

"What do you mean by that?" He teased knowingly. She shuffled closer, their arms brushing.

"Whatever you want it to." She whispered. He smirked, pulling out the parchment and quill he had stowed away. Rebecca watched him scribble a word at the bottom of the list he had created. _Seductive._

He dropped it on the floor beside him before turning back to Rebecca. She smiled at him, reaching her arms around his neck as he wrapped an arm around her waist. She reached up and kissed him, gently and… _seductive_ as he may like to put it. Romantic, yes. But the pace picked up quickly and before long things were heating up fast.

* * *

Rebecca woke up a little while later on the couch, not really remembering much to start with. She heard a little bit of shuffling behind her. She propped herself up and turned around. The noise was Draco looking at the variety of things neatly piled on the shelves. He turned around to see her.

"About time you decided to wake up."

"What? Uh, yes. I don't remember…?" She frowned, quite confused.

"Apparently you're supposed to." Draco also frowned, returning to sit next to her.

"Umm, can you start me off?"

"Umm… we were on the floor… and then you passed out, went all limp and stuff, so I moved you up here."

"Passed out? Why? What happened?"

"I don't really know, I thought that might have been when the potion wore off. You seem pretty normal now."

"I don't think that was supposed to happen."

"Neither do I."

"Maybe it was just a side effect it had on…" Rebecca cut off mid sentence. Draco looked at her strangely.

"What?"

"Maybe it was my head." She thought out loud.

"What?" He asked and leaned a little further to try and see her face better.

"In quidditch, when I hit my head really hard... maybe drinking love potion wasn't such a good idea. Madam Pomfrey told me to take it easy." Rebecca explained.

"... Let's go." She said quickly, feeling a little worried. She lurched off the couch in one swift movement and walked quickly across the room in search of the door which she hoped was going to appear. In the same short moment she felt Draco catch her by the wrist. She turned around to see him a little closer than what she thought he was.

"What's the rush?" He murmured. Rebecca looked at him and pressed her lips together.

"I think I should see Madam Pomfrey." She said slowly, even though she felt fine now. Draco nodded once, looking disappointed but insisting he take her himself. The door then appeared on a completely different wall to the one Rebecca expected it to be on.

Malfoy seemed to be a little gentler now. It was odd.


	19. Chapter 19

Draco walked Rebecca all the way to the hospital wing entrance and then returned to the dungeons to begin their report. The hospital wing was empty, apart from Rebecca. Madam Pomfrey appeared straight away and Rebecca told her how she had taken the love potion (for class, of course) and had passed out, unable to remember what had happened. Madam Pomfrey frowned.

"I told you to take it easy, dear." She reminded Rebecca, who looked a little guilty. Madam Pomfrey checked her eyesight, hearing and walking all over again. She was perfectly fine. Madam Pomfrey made her drink something foul smelling with a taste to match to hurry along her healing on her head. She left the hospital wing again, promising that she wouldn't do anything to stress her.

Rebecca turned up at the dungeons, to Draco's surprise. Rebecca read what he had written so far and thought he had actually done a good job. Draco _was_ good at taking notes then. This partially annoyed her; mainly because before they tested the potion she said she would be better at it than him and then he said he'd be just as good, better even. He was right. They were pretty evenly matched in all aspects, it seemed, and the more Rebecca thought about it the more they appeared to have in common. Draco was smarter than what she gave him credit for.

And then she was also a little annoyed because she was embarrassed. As they continued writing the report together they obviously had to refer to his notes. Occasionally he'd say something, or maybe even Rebecca would, that was completely unnecessary. Some things perhaps jogged Rebecca's memory a little further. It was a little funny sometimes. But then again it all depended on what was said. They took a sample of the potion to hand in with their report and then they both left silently.

The rest of Sunday afternoon was pretty casual, nothing much at all was happening, or was going to. There were a lot of people sitting in the unusually quiet common room for what was still a nice day, although it was starting to get a little stormy outside and curfew was almost up. Rebecca was currently slouching on a chair which was facing the wall, her feet against it so she could rock on the slightly unstable chair. She was throwing a small rubber bouncy ball against it which rebounded for her to catch. Once or twice she had thrown it much further up at a funny angle, and much harder, which would then rebound to hit something or someone in the middle of the common room. That was about all the fun she was having.

Eventually she was interrupted by Harry and Hermione.

"Hey, Bec, umm… would you like to take a walk with us?" Hermione asked nervously, her arms folded. Rebecca raised her eyebrows and stopped rocking, a little surprised.

"Sure. What's up?" She asked as she got up out of the chair.

"We'll… tell you in a minute." Hermione said quietly, looking down. This had Rebecca feeling a little nervous. She shrugged it off, and so the three left the Gryffindor tower and strolled down an entire corridor before anyone said anything.

"How did that… love potion go?" Hermione asked.

"Good... A little hard to believe when…" Rebecca drifted off.

"What?" Harry urged.

"Never mind." Rebecca blushed.

"Was it pretty close to how you feel normally?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Harry!" Hermione snapped.

"Umm… not really. I was, like, all hyper and stuff." Rebecca shrugged.

"Not like that, I mean how you feel about… Malfoy." Harry clarified. Rebecca looked at him a little shamefully, unsure of what he meant.

"If this is because he's your worst enemy or something, I-"

"No! Well, not really." Harry quickly cut in.

"What do you mean then?" Rebecca asked as they all stopped moving.

"I mean… was there any difference between how you normally feel and how you felt when you had the potion, besides being hyper?" Rebecca looked at the both of them and then at the floor, thinking about it for the first time that day. Rebecca still wasn't entirely sure what Harry was referring to as she had never talked about Draco with him. In fact, after Hermione had realised the love potion had proved Rebecca's feelings for Draco, she became anxious and told Harry alone. Harry reacted quite badly to this. Rebecca didn't know this by that point, but she still chose to talk to the pair truthfully.

"No." She shook her head quietly, her gaze absentmindedly fixed on an invisible spot on the ground. It was silent for a moment.

"You really do... like him then." Harry mumbled quietly, finding it hard to say. Rebecca nodded silently and he sighed.

"He's not going to be good for you. In case you didn't already know, he's a git. A downright git. He's arrogant, he's pureblood activist, and his dad's a Death Eater in Azkaban for crying out loud! I really do hope you know what kind of mistake you're making." Harry rushed out.

"Harry…" Hermione whispered harshly and nudged him.

"No, she's _got_ to know, Hermione. He's filthy, there's absolutely nothing at all appealing about him! I have no idea what you see in… that so called human being!"

"Harry, really, this was a bad idea." Hermione insisted.

"Of course you don't, Harry," Rebecca began to speak, the both of them ignoring a suffering Hermione. "But maybe _I'm_ good for _him_. You may think all that, but a person _can_ change Harry. We're closer than you think. Much closer." She said calmly.

"Closer? How close? What do you mean by that?" He questioned quickly, looking horror-struck.

"Where are you trying to go with this?" Rebecca shook her head. Harry looked doubtful and Hermione sighed.

"Harry has come to the conclusion that Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater." She blurted out. Harry looked sideways at her as Rebecca's eyes bulged. She didn't know how to react, whether to feel angry, disappointed, or even if she should laugh at how stupid that idea was.

"There's no way Malfoy could be a Death Eater, no way." Rebecca quickly disagreed. Hermione looked away, clearly not wanting to be a part of this.

"I've put all the pieces together, Bec. It makes sense." Harry said.

"What _pieces_?" She shook her head in disbelief.

"Well, the most obvious one is that his father is,"

"Draco is not his father." Rebecca demanded in a monotone manner. Harry sighed.

"Please, just listen for a minute, okay?" Rebecca gave in and nodded glumly.

"Ron, Hermione and I followed him in Diagon Alley earlier this year. He went into Borgin and Burke's and checked out this old cabinet, it was really weird. I told Arthur Weasley about it and he said it's very possible that Draco is interested in a pair of vanishing cabinets. He's been skipping classes too. Not to mention that he cursed Katie Bell with that necklace."

"You don't know that was him. And how would Arthur know that stuff anyway?"

"He works for the Ministry. Trust me, Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater and he's up to something." Rebecca looked at him blankly.

"Harry, trust _me_. Draco is not a Death Eater. You don't know him how I do." She stated calmly. He fake laughed,

"What are you implying? Everyone knows Malfoy for who he is. If you know him any different you must be having an affair with him or something." He seemed to lighten up; he meant that as a joke. Rebecca, suddenly awkward, looked away to avoid making eye contact, feeling guilty and quickly tried to think of how to react. It was silent for that quick moment.

"You're not… having an affair with _Draco Malfoy_, are you?" Harry asked worriedly as he thought he may actually be right. Rebecca looked at Hermione the same time she looked at her bewilderedly. It was news to her. Rebecca flicked her gaze back to Harry, now making eye contact. She bit her lip as her forehead crumpled in remorse for Harry.

"Uhh... I wouldn't call it that..." Her voice was wobbly. Harry looked completely shocked as he ran his hand through his messy hair.

"I need to sit down," Harry said as he turned around to lean heavily against the wall. Rebecca folded her arms uncomfortably as she looked back to Hermione again. She hadn't changed her expression at all.

"You're not joking?" She asked quietly. Rebecca shook her head.

"Oh my gosh." She mumbled as she turned once on the spot, not knowing what to say or do.

"Look, it's not that bad. I really don't know what you're carrying on about." Rebecca shrugged, "Just don't tell anyone, not a soul. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone."

"Did he tell you that? Sounds like-" Harry started.

"No! It was half-half. Because we knew that nobody would accept it. But please, promise me you won't tell anyone." Rebecca begged.

"Well that seems to be a little hard once you've gone off behind all your friends' backs with their worst enemy." Harry pointed out harshly.

"Harry." Hermione backhanded him gently. Rebecca looked away and it turned silent for a minute.

"I promise." She heard Hermione say gently. Rebecca looked up to see her. She looked as though she was thinking she may regret it later, but Rebecca couldn't thank her more. She ran the small space between them and embraced her in a huge hug.

"Thank you, Hermione." She whispered gratefully.

"Just… look after yourself, you know?" Hermione asked of her as they released each other.

"I suppose none of us really know what Malfoy's like then, if it's like that. You're a good kid, so he must be part decent. As long as you know what you're doing." She said bashfully. Rebecca gave her another tight hug before they both turned to look at Harry. He stared at them glumly, looking like he wasn't going to move anytime soon, though he sighed and stood up straight again.

"I promise." He said in a low tone. Rebecca brightened up immediately and almost bowled him over as she ran to hug him. He tried to cover his laugh.

"Thank you, Harry." Rebecca beamed. They hugged for a short moment before he pushed her back and held her at arm's length with his hands on her shoulders.

"You know... you could probably find the dark mark." Harry said as his mind began ticking like clockwork. Rebecca was a little taken aback.

"Harry, for the last time-"

"I know, I know, 'Draco Malfoy isn't a death eater', blah, blah, blah. But there's no harm in checking, is there?"

"No, but I'm not going to be your little spy either. I'm not in it for you." Rebecca informed him urgently.

"Okay, I know. I'm sorry. But don't think any of this changes my mind about him." He sighed. Rebecca smiled approvingly.

"I suppose we should go back now." Hermione soon said. Harry agreed and they started moving.

"Come on, Bec." Hermione gestured.

"Um, I might go for a little walk, actually." She decided.

"At this time of night? That's not allowed." Hermione told her.

"I know, but I do it all the time." She shrugged.

"_All_ the time? That's breaking the rules." Hermione scolded.

"What are you doing out here then?" Rebecca pointed out, smiling mischievously at her.

"Oh, quick, Harry, let's go." Hermione ushered him as they turned to go.

"Bec?" Harry turned around to throw a ball of a thin blanket type thing at her.

"Just to be safe. I'm trusting you." He said warningly, strongly reminding Rebecca of her father.

"Thanks, Harry. Always wanted to give it a try." She said as she watched them walk away before draping the invisibility cloak over herself and walking in the opposite direction.

She had been walking for a little while now, not really paying any attention to where she was going. She was thinking wildly about what had just happened, and the crudeness of Harry's suspicions. She randomly decided she'd take a right, go up a flight of stairs or two, take a left and go down another. She never really ended up anywhere, but just at that moment she was passing through a corridor which lead straight to the dungeons. It was deadly quiet and even darker down there. Perhaps even colder.

Then she heard a sort of bump, like heavy stumbling footsteps. She froze, trying to figure out where it was coming from. After a silent moment she quietly crept up to the corner and peered around it. She could make out someone towards the other end of the corridor, but she was too far away to see who they were. She crossed the corridor so she was on the opposite side to them and moved quietly under the invisibility cloak towards the other end. Once she was close enough she easily recognised them.

"Malfoy?" She asked aloud, surprised. He looked around confused, looking tired and dreary.

"Hello…?" He shook his head deliriously. Rebecca tore off the invisibility cloak to reveal herself, feeling that something wasn't quite right.

"Whoa," He stumbled back in surprise. "That was weird. Where'd you come from?" He almost slurred.

"Magic." Rebecca mumbled ironically. "What's wrong with you? Why are you out here?" She asked more clearly, looking him over.

"Huh? Oh, I was with Snape." He replied slowly.

"_Again_? What for? What were you doing?" Rebecca asked all at once.

"I don't know. I said I didn't feel too well so we had something to drink."

"To drink? You're too young to drink and he knows that."

"I know, like I care anyways."Rebecca frowned, now knowing why it seemed something wasn't right.

"Come on, you should probably get back." Rebecca said as she wrapped an arm around his waist and slung his arm over her shoulder to support him. He appeared wobbly.

"How much did you drink?"

"Three maybe four… I lost count." He admitted, almost running Rebecca off her own feet under his weight.

"Why did you not feel so good in the first place?" Rebecca asked, trying to keep him talking. He shrugged and almost fell over again.

"You know… finding out something you didn't want to know." He mumbled sadly.

"Really? How bad could it be to make you feel so sick?" She smiled in attempt to lighten the mood a bit. He seemed to look up for a moment as if it cleared his head.

"Well… there was something… and then something else happened which proved the something to be a lot more from someone's point of view… and I think… maybe it sort of proved it to me too. But… I don't want it to happen right now, right now is a really, really bad time. But I want it to happen for me." He managed nearly intelligently and Rebecca thought it over, trying to figure out what he meant.

"… What was this something?" Rebecca asked, thinking once she knew at least that she would be able to make at least a little sense of it.

"Complicated." He spat quickly. Rebecca smiled at his dry humour.

"No, really. What is the something?" Rebecca asked again. Draco thought about it for a minute.

"A spark." He eventually said. _So there was a spark and then something happened which proved the spark to be a lot more from someone else's point of view._ Rebecca tried to make sense of Draco's odd riddle.

"You know what? You're _really_ good at this for someone in your state." She said, unable to figure it out. Draco looked down at her with an unwilling expression.

"So… what happened?" Rebecca tried. Draco rolled his eyes.

"I may as well just tell you the whole story now." He sounded annoyed.

"Okay." Rebecca quickly agreed to try and keep him even a little calm.

"The something was a spark, which was happening quickly. It was fine like that; I liked it like that for now. It was good like that. Then something happened which proved the spark to be more like a flame. From someone else's point of view anyway, because what we did was going to prove who they… Then it sort of dawned on me that I may have just let a raging fire run free and it ended up proving the same thing for me.

"And it's really bad timing because I have to…It's like a strong wind. I really want to keep the fire going, I really do. For the first time, actually. I just _cannot_ believe how bad the timing is. Because if I can help it or not, in the end the fire will do no more than smoulder. Forever, it won't go out, but it won't be as great. Someone's going to get hurt." Draco said emotionally. Rebecca was more puzzled than ever. She was sort of following, but she didn't have the slightest clue about what he was trying to say.

"I mean, if I… if something happened… I don't know what I'd do. Bad things are going to happen and I don't know if I can save it. It'd feel like the end for me and… it wouldn't be the same anymore." He added dramatically. They stopped walking as they reached the place where Rebecca remembered the entrance to the Slytherin common room to be. She looked at him, confused as ever, as she tried to make sense of it all. Suddenly he seemed to be a lot more sober.

"The something was a spark, what happened was a potion and the someone is you." He finally filled in the gaps. All of a sudden it all clicked and nearly everything made sense. It wasn't quite what Rebecca had expected at all. Who would have thought Draco Malfoy could come up with anything remotely emotional like that, especially when he was in a state like he was. Whether it was real or not, whether Rebecca could believe it or not, whether Draco knew he was saying it let alone going to remember it tomorrow or not, he had her very well and truly stuck for words. Rebecca was speechless.

"The raging fire is the love that I have for you." Draco told her amidst the cold silence before saying the Slytherin password and leaving Rebecca to stand alone in the now lonely corridor.


	20. Chapter 20

Rebecca didn't know how long she spent standing in the cool, quiet corridor. It felt like a long time. She thought it all over. Several times.

In the end she got: there was Draco and herself, they were having a little fling and that's the way he liked it. Then they tested the love potion on Rebecca, and it proved who she had existing feelings for. It proved she loved him, to her surprise, the fling being a lot more than she originally thought. It muddled Draco around a bit, but it ended up proving the same for him… he also loved her. That's the part Rebecca was struggling to wrap her head around.

But he also said it was bad timing for him, that bad things are going to happen. And he wants to 'keep the fire going', so he wants their relationship to develop. But he said 'in the end it's only going to smoulder. It won't completely go out, but it won't be as big', so no matter what there will always be something between them, but someone will get hurt.

What could possibly happen? It was so confusing. Maybe Draco took what she had said literally that time, 'maybe you should experience emotion once in a while'. Bloody hell.

Eventually Rebecca decided it would be a good idea to start moving again. Something startled her from her thoughts, whether it have been a prefect or Filch, possibly another dopey Slytherin. Whatever it was, she didn't hang around to find out. She pulled the invisibility cloak over her head and slowly headed back to Gryffindor tower.

She seemed sort of dazed, thinking a lot. She wondered if he actually meant what he had said. It was complicated the way he had said it for someone who was so drunk. But she was beginning to think he wouldn't have said it otherwise. He seemed to have a bit of sense about him. Maybe he used being drunk as an excuse to tell her so he wouldn't know what she was talking about later on, if she said anything. Maybe he wasn't drunk at all, and it was all an act. But Rebecca was pretty sure he was drunk; she could smell it.

After thinking over countless possibilities she decided she may as well be happy. Happy because Draco told her he loved her, real or not. It was just different to hear him say it.

Hopefully she would see him tomorrow morning. However he's feeling then could very possibly give away how he actually was tonight. She had butterflies in her stomach as she reached Gryffindor tower, for what reason was unknown. She was excited still and felt a little jumpy. She could hear it in her voice when she said the password to the Fat Lady. Walking into the dimly lit common room there were only a few people left, mostly older students. In one of the corners Rebecca spotted Hermione reading a book, Harry looking completely bored and Ron snoring his brains out. She walked past everyone else and over to them.

"Do you always do this on a school night?" Hermione asked, looking up from her book.

"Not really. Sometimes." She shrugged, smiling thoughtfully.

"What took you so long?" Harry asked.

"Stuff happens. Why? Were you waiting up for me?" She asked and they nodded.

"What for? You could have gone to bed if you wanted to." Rebecca told them disapprovingly.

"Harry wanted to make sure you got back alright." Hermione said. Rebecca looked over to Harry in surprise.

"Thanks, Harry." She smiled, also handing back his invisibility cloak. "It was fun to surprise people." She said mischievously. Harry looked confused.

"Surprise what people?" He asked. Rebecca shrugged, smiling to herself.

"Certain people." Rebecca answered, perhaps hinting with the tone in her voice. Harry raised his eyebrows thoughtfully.

"You mean _Malfoy_? Do you arrange to meet after hours or something?"

"No, otherwise I wouldn't have surprised him." Rebecca said pointedly, a little offended at his assuming manner.

"Of all the people in the school you just happened to run into him." Harry said like he couldn't believe her luck, or how ironic it was.

"Yeah." She said confidently, shuffling one of her feet. Harry narrowed his eyes like there was something wrong with this picture.

"What happened?" Hermione asked suspiciously. Rebecca smiled meekly.

"I think you know enough for now. If I told you, you probably wouldn't be very happy." She told them.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Because you hate him enough already. I'll let you get used to the last idea first." She decided right as she said it. Ron stirred in his sleep, almost falling off his chair, but didn't wake.

"Does he know?" Rebecca asked. Hermione shook her head.

"He'd probably be the last on the list if you were to tell anybody." Hermione said matter-of-factly. She had a point though. Ron hated Malfoy to all costs.

"Good." Rebecca nodded and the three of them forced a laugh.

"Poor Ron," Harry smiled.

"Okay, well I'm going to bed before it gets any later." Hermione decided as she hauled herself out of her chair.

"Right behind you." Rebecca agreed. Harry shook Ron awake as the two girls left up the stairs.

"Good night, Harry." Rebecca called just before he was out of her sight. She heard Ron wake up noisily and abruptly.

"Is she back yet? Where's Hermione?" Was the last thing Rebecca heard from a confused Ron.

Hermione and Rebecca readied themselves for bed in the dark as the other girls were sleeping.

"Bec?" Hermione whispered.

"Yes?" Rebecca answered.

"I'm sorry for telling Harry." She said quietly, feeling guilty.

"You told him?" Rebecca asked unsurely, connecting how their earlier conversation had come about.

"Yes. When I saw the way you were behaving with Malfoy after you had drunk the love potion, I knew there was more to it than you just being 'fascinated' by him. Harry has been speculating Draco for a while now, and I thought I should tell him. So he could take everything into account." Hermione explained.

"Oh. Well, that's alright I suppose..." Rebecca mumbled understandingly and it fell quiet.

"Hermione?" Rebecca asked after a short while.

"Yes?" She replied from her bed.

"Do _you_ think he's a... you know...?" Rebecca asked uncertainly. Hermione thought for a moment, leaving Rebecca thinking that she might not answer.

"No. Harry's been telling Ron and myself for a while now, but we both doubt it. I don't think You-Know-Who would induct an underage wizard. Harry seems to think it could be possible because of his father being in Azkaban, like a punishment." Hermione explained. Rebecca remained quiet.

"Are you okay?" Hermione finally asked.

"Yeah. Thanks, Hermione." Rebecca said, and before long they had both drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The first lesson on Monday morning was Potions. The class had to hand in their Amortentia potion with their report today. Slughorn had them all sitting out of normal seats and with their assigned partners instead. Draco, however, was nowhere to be seen. Luckily Rebecca had kept their assignment.

"Good morning! Before we begin, I'd like to assume you all have you assigned work with you. Please hand it in as I call out your names." Professor Slughorn interrupted the chattering class. Whilst he called out names and had a quick chat to each pair the rest of the class continued to talk amongst themselves.

After a couple of minutes the classroom door creaked open a fraction and Draco slipped in. He slowly shut the door and seemed to have a bad reaction to the noise it made. The whole class fell quiet and glanced at him, then continued talking almost in perfect synchronisation. Rebecca however did not take her eyes off of him once as he steadily made his way through the classroom and slumped into the seat next to her. He apologised briefly as he laid his head on top of his arms that were rested on the desk. He didn't look well at all. His skin looked paler than usual and chalky, deep, noticeable bags beneath his eyes. His hair was a bit of a mess and his uniform wasn't how he usually wore it. It looked like he had gotten dressed in a hurry as he had left a couple of top buttons undone on his shirt and his green and silver tie strung loosely around his neck.

"New look?" Rebecca raised her eyebrows. It looked as though he was about to fall asleep.

"Mmm." He barely murmured. He looked like he could actually use a couple of hours more sleep.

"Are you okay?" Rebecca asked because he did, in fact, look sick.

"Too noisy…" He mumbled quietly as he buried his face further into the crook of his arm. Rebecca smirked.

"Have a hard night out, eh?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." Rebecca heard his muffled voice. She laughed to herself. _Hangover. _She thought.

"You didn't happen to, uh, come across some sort of raging fire last night by any chance, did you?" Rebecca asked in anticipation, wondering if he was going to remember any of it. He went rigid and Rebecca noticed his ears turned a faint pink.

"Rebecca Whyte and Draco Malfoy?" Slughorn called out.

"Back in a sec," She said quickly, picking up their potion sample and report. Rebecca walked up to the front of the classroom and handed both to the Professor.

"Thank you, my dear." He said as he placed them with the rest.

"Say, what's wrong with young Mister Malfoy over there?" Slughorn asked, gesturing towards him. Rebecca turned around to see Draco still slouched over the desk, his face not visible.

"He's not… feeling his best." Rebecca answered broadly.

"Does he need to go and see Madam Pomfrey and have a break?" He asked anxiously. Rebecca looked over her shoulder once more. She smiled kindly at the worried Professor.

"No, I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Oh well, if you say so." He shrugged it off. Rebecca kept smiling before returning back to her seat next to Draco.

"So, uh, you were saying?" Rebecca resumed. Draco looked up at her for the first time that morning, sitting up a lot straighter.

"People do stupid things," He begun. Rebecca half frowned. He paused, unsure of what she might have been thinking. He could only assume she was implying he did something stupid, which he felt he had done anyway.

"I'd had a few, alright?" He whispered loudly, excusing himself. "I… I…" He looked to be stuck for words.

"You remember everything you might've said last night?" Rebecca asked, making sure they were at least on the same page. He flinched and then slowly nodded.

"Look, I shouldn't have said anything, I-"

"It's fine," Rebecca interrupted him reassuringly. He looked very surprised.

"Really?"

"Yeah." She smiled. A little smile played on his lips, but he didn't allow it to surface.

"Alright, everyone's handed in their assignment?" Slughorn bellowed over the now loud class.

"Can I talk to you later?" He asked as they both completely ignored Slughorn. Rebecca nodded.

"I'll meet you after next period." Rebecca replied before they finally turned to pay some attention to Slughorn as he properly begun his lesson.

"The next potion you need to make in your pairs is Felix Felicis, also known as 'Liquid Luck'. Obviously it is a luck potion, one tablespoon and you'll succeed in anything you attempt from dawn 'til dusk. Indeed it is a terribly tricky potion to make, but does not take very long, at all!

"It is highly toxic in large quantities, so don't go and do anything ridiculous! Too much of a good thing, you know? It is also banned from sporting events, examinations, elections or any other organised competition. It is only to be taken on a completely ordinary day, and then you can watch that ordinary day become extraordinary! Understood?" The class nodded in awe.

"Alright, this time you only have two weeks as this peculiar little potion only takes a little over an hour to make. Then you have one free week before Christmas break, and then straight back into it afterwards. I'll give you the rest of this lesson to start your research. Off you go!" He instructed as the noise quickly picked up again.

"Only three weeks until Christmas?" Rebecca asked in disbelief, shocked at how fast the last few school weeks had gone. Draco nodded slowly. She swore quietly under her breath and he watched her, highly amused.

"What, forgot to do your shopping?"

"Forgot everything more like it!" She corrected him. He laughed at her, only to be hit hard by a Potions book.

"Ow! Hey!" He exclaimed, still chortling.

"Shut up." Rebecca tried to hide her smile as she put her book back onto the table and started to look for Felix Felicis

The lesson soon came to an end. Rebecca's next subject was Herbology. She found it was an interesting subject, though frustrating as she never expected the plants to be 'alive'. It was turning out to be a long lesson, and she was pretty anxious to hurry up and get out of there. With about fifteen minutes left of the lesson Rebecca was bitten by something thoroughly covered in fine splinter-like thorns.

"Ahh!" She screamed out loudly as everyone stopped and stared.

"Dear, what did you do?" Professor Sprout said as she bustled over to assist.

"It bit me!" She shrieked, clutching her hand to her chest gingerly.

"Here, let me see." She insisted as she tugged on her wrist to get a better look.

"Don't touch it!" She said anxiously, Ron snickering in the corner. Rebecca shot him an evil look and he attempted to silence himself immediately.

"I think you'd better go and see Madam Pomfrey, dear." She quickly concluded. Rebecca looked down to see her hand and gasped. The tips of her fingers and the side of her hand opposite her thumb had the plant's thorns jabbed all over on her right hand which was swelling rapidly.

She quickly gathered her things, careful to avoid irritating her hand, and left briskly. In her long wait for the lesson to end she did end up getting out earlier than planned.

She made her way back inside the castle and up a few staircases and corridors taking her about five minutes to reach the hospital wing. She slipped in through the huge wooden double doors and into the bright, spacious room. She dropped all her things onto a bed she was passing and called out.

"Madam Pomfrey?" She watched as she stuck her head through her office door and then proceeded to come out and see her.

"Is it your head, dear?" She asked sweetly.

"No," Rebecca stuck out her hand to show Madam Pomfrey rather than explaining.

"Oh, what's this you've done?" She asked as she delicately inspected her, now irritated, hand.

"Herbology, uh, a spiky plant bit me." Rebecca told her plainly. She nodded in understanding as she let go of her hand.

"Take a seat, dear, I'll be right back." She said as she hurried off to her office again. Rebecca sat herself on the bed and waited quietly, having a better look at her hand. The spikes were very much like fine, blonde, almost white hairs. Stuck all through her skin, they gave her what felt like a funny case of pins and needles. It was quite painful when she tried to move it.

The bed Rebecca was sitting on happened to be underneath a window, the warm sunlight beating through and shining brightly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something gleam atop her left hand. She turned her attention to look straight at it, but couldn't see anything at all. Wondering what it could have been she tilted her hand towards the light a little more. There, vertically etched in a straight line from the knuckle of her middle finger to her wrist, was something that looked to be a criss-cross pattern in faint silvery white scar tissue. It stood out very well in the sunlight on the perfect angle. Rebecca had never seen it before, and struggled to think of where it may have come from.

She pondered over it as she absentmindedly inspected it, until Madam Pomfrey came back and she momentarily forgot about it. Madam Pomfrey had brought back a set of tweezers, some sort of ointment and bandages.

"Here we go, where's your hand?" She said as she reached for Rebecca's hand again, tweezers at the ready.

"What's all that for? Is it really that bad?" Rebecca asked nervously, not liking what she saw.

"I doubt it." Madam Pomfrey tried reassuring her. Rebecca sat very still as she got a grip on a few thorns at once.

"One… two…" And she pulled them out of the side of Rebecca's hand. It hurt her a lot, causing her to flinch dramatically and blink back the water in her eyes.

"Oh, don't be silly, it's not that bad." She hushed.

"Most people tend to go on three." Rebecca retorted. She laughed as she pulled a few more out, Rebecca having the same reaction over and over again. Minutes passed by painfully and there were only a few thorns left to go. The rest of Rebecca's hand that had been 'plucked' became red and puffy, very tender. After Madam Pomfrey had pulled out the very last thorn they both let out a very relieved sigh.

"That was time consuming." She huffed as she dropped her tweezers.

"Tell me about it. Slow and painful." Rebecca added. She rolled her eyes at her.

"Hold still," She mumbled as she tipped some of the ointment onto a cloth and started dabbing at her swollen hand with a burning sensation. Rebecca restrained herself from yelling out in pain.

"What's that stuff for?"

"To stop any reactions or infections." Madam Pomfrey said as she replaced the ointment she was holding with a bandage. She carefully wrapped it around her hand to protect it.

"Leave that on for the rest of the day and try to avoid as much movement and disturbance as possible. That way it will have a much better chance at healing faster and properly, and should be as good as new by tomorrow." She instructed as she cleaned up.

"Thank you." Rebecca said as she picked up her belongings and left the hospital wing. Every time she came to a window she would stop to have a look at the strange lineal pattern on the back of her left hand, trying so hard to think of how she could have gotten it. It was already at least five minutes into the break, and she needed to hurry up and meet up with Draco. _Wait, Draco!_ Rebecca realised.

She hurried along much quicker then, not stopping at windows anymore as she headed towards the courtyard where she hoped he would be. She was making her way through the corridor just before the courtyard when she heard some people talking.

"…all the symptoms, mate. Don't kill yourself." Was the last thing she heard before she saw Draco and Blaise emerge from a flight of stairs and into the same corridor. They noticed her straight away and grins spread well across _both _of their faces, which had Rebecca very confused.

"Symptoms. _You_ just fell down stairs caught off guard, or dreaming or _something._" Blaise seemed to finish off what he was saying a moment ago. He slapped Draco on the back encouragingly and proceeded to the courtyard by himself.

"Symptoms for what?" Rebecca asked Draco curiously.

"Nothing." He shrugged as he walked over to Rebecca.

"Did the almighty Draco Malfoy himself really just fall down some stairs?" She teased curiously, smiling at the amusing image of Draco falling down stairs. He shrugged again.

"Might've. Doesn't matter. What happened to your hand?" He frowned, noticing the bandages. Rebecca also shrugged.

"Plant bit me in herbology." She said.

"Did the almighty Rebecca Whyte herself really just get attacked by a harmless plant?" He mocked her.

"Well, it wasn't so harmless, was it?" Rebecca asked rhetorically as he looked at her bandaged hand.

"On the matter of hands, show me yours." Rebecca demanded as she swiftly reached out to grab his right hand.

"What? Why?" He asked, furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Rebecca didn't answer him and tilted his hand in all directions, looking for some sort of mark on the back of his hand. She remembered she needed sunlight before dragging him along to the courtyard.

"What's going on?" He asked, a little annoyed at being so clueless.

"Just wait a sec…" She answered impatiently as they reached some sunlight. She tilted his hand on an angle, towards the sun a little more, and...

"What the hell is that?" Draco exclaimed suddenly, seeing the same silvery criss-cross pattern that Rebecca had on her own hand for the first time.

"Now I think I know what that is." Rebecca said as she tilted her left hand near his which revealed the odd mark.

"What the… What is it?" He asked as he pulled his own hand back, trying to see it closer, although he failed without the sunlight.

"I think it's a scar. Remember how Snape stuck our hands together for a couple of days at the beginning of term?" Rebecca reminded him and Draco nodded.

"Well… yeah." Rebecca finished her short explanation.

"So… every time I see that I'm going to be reminded of you." He concluded.

"You make it sound like a bad thing." Rebecca pouted playfully.

"I don't mind. It looks pretty cool anyways. And you also have one." He smiled, as did she.

"Snape is still a bastard, however." He added quickly, resulting in the unlikely pair to laugh.

"What did you want to talk about?" Rebecca asked, still smiling, remember why they had met up on their own accord. He thought for a moment, looking out to everyone in the courtyard before replying.

"Let's walk." Rebecca nodded in agreement before they began to walk down the almost empty corridor.

"So, uh, about last night…" He began.


	21. Chapter 21

"It was kind of... inappropriate." Draco stated mildly. Rebecca pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded, kind of agreeing.

"And... I don't actually know how much of it you understood in the end..." He continued and Rebecca half shrugged.

"And whatever it was you got out of it... I'm sorry." He apologized, appearing nervous. Rebecca smiled a little bit but tried not to let it show.

"Yes." She agreed, "And it should probably be forgotten and we should pretend it never happened." She concluded. He nodded and shoved his hands into his pockets, watching his feet as he walked, feeling _very_ defeated.

"But... it happened, and I haven't forgotten," Rebecca reminded him, and he appeared to brace himself for what was coming.

"I'm kind of glad it was said." She said finally and Draco relaxed a little as he looked across at her.

"Is that what you meant when you said 'It's fine'?" He asked and Rebecca nodded, allowing her smile to surface.

"So... you're okay with all of that?" He asked.

"Depends... You really meant it?" Rebecca asked before answering his question. He bit his lip and nodded shamefully. Rebecca in return nodded her head in response to his question. He smiled a little bit.

"So... a raging fire?" She asked curiously and he groaned inwardly.

"You could have just said..." She began and he sighed.

"I know. But...I wanted to say something. I don't think I really knew what though, or how well it was going to go, and afterwards... I kind of hoped you had forgotten." He looked nervous again.

"Well... you're a brave one for saying anything at all." Rebecca said quietly as they slowed to a halt. The mood seemed a little more intense than less than a moment ago as they stood very close. Silently they swayed even closer together as Draco reached forward and held both of Rebecca's hands, careful of her bandaged one. She felt her heart rate increase dramatically as he leant down and she reached up. They were less than millimetres apart when the corridor was suddenly flooded with students moving to their next classes. They jumped far apart almost immediately, feeling as though they'd been caught. Rebecca looked away and folded her arms as Draco scratched the back of his neck, hoping no one saw them.

"So, umm, we should probably get started on that potion soon..." Rebecca said as if they had been talking about it the whole time.

"Uh, yeah. Are we still gonna do the Monday, Wednesday, Friday thing?" He asked, playing along with her.

"Yeap."

"I'll meet you in the library after school then?"

"I'll see you there." Rebecca smiled as the last of the students had passed them and they watched them walk around the corner. As soon as they were out of sight Rebecca quickly closed the unwanted space between them, stood on her toes, and gave Draco a chaste kiss quickly and sweetly once on the lips. As soon as she retreated he looked quite surprised. For the first time Rebecca had made the move to kiss him rather than him kissing her. Rebecca felt her cheeks burning as Draco went to kiss her again, although they were quickly interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

"No public display of affection Miss Whyte and Mister Malfoy. Detention with me tonight, eight o'clock." Snape snarled in his usual drawl, clearly disgusted.

"Well, I wouldn't say it was in public, Sir. No one else is here but you." Draco quickly 'defended'. Snape looked like he could have growled.

"Tonight _and_ tomorrow night, eight o'clock!" He snapped as he turned to leave.

"Just because he's never kissed a girl." Draco grumbled, a little too loud.

"That's it! Detention every night this week! Eight o'clock sharp!" He yelled, now very annoyed. Draco went rigid; obviously surprised that Snape had in fact heard him.

"Gee, thanks." Rebecca mumbled, also a little annoyed.

"Uh... sorry." He stuttered guiltily. It was silent for a moment.

"You know what? We'd better go and see Slughorn now." Rebecca said as she realised something.

"What for?" He asked confusedly.

"Because we only had two weeks to do that potion, and we can't do it in one. We have to spend our first week in detention, unless Slughorn can do something about it." She explained.

"Yeah, alright." Draco mumbled, agreeing, as he realised he may have gotten them both in strife.

* * *

"So you're saying you got a week's worth of detention just for spooking a first year?" Slughorn asked the both of them incredulously. Rebecca looked sideways at Draco.

"Well _he_ also retorted a couple too many times." Rebecca added to Draco's little story, which they had used instead of telling Slughorn the truth about their detentions. Draco then looked at Rebecca sideways.

"I see." Slughorn said in a monotone manner, a little annoyed at how vulnerable they were to receiving detention.

"Well, I'll talk to Professor Snape at dinner tonight and then we'll see. Otherwise you may have to use your lunch breaks and do more work in your free time on the weekend. I suggest you still go to your detention tonight in case." Slughorn instructed.

"Thanks, Professor." Rebecca said.

"Thank you..." Draco mumbled rather harshly, sounding like he didn't mean it. Rebecca frowned at him, wondering what had gotten him in such a twist in such a short time. Slughorn nodded once before they turned to leave the dungeons.

"What's the matter?" Rebecca asked once the door was closed behind them.

"He didn't believe us!" Draco frowned, annoyed, and Rebecca laughed at his low level of maturity.

"He didn't say he didn't, and he's still going to do something about it isn't he? So it doesn't really matter. ... And if he didn't it was because of your lame little story we used instead." Rebecca said.

"_My _lamestory? It was a hell of a lot better than your excuse." Draco retorted.

"Excuse me? My excuse was a whole lot more believable than yours!"

"Yeah right... _taking our time to get to class...!_ Pathetic." He mimicked.

"_Spooking a little defenceless first year... _Real creative." They stopped arguing for a single moment. They stared at each other as if they were waiting for the other to say something else. Neither of them did; Draco smirked and Rebecca grinned and they simply laughed at each other instead. They argued though they both knew they were joking. Draco had found someone on the same wavelength as himself, and for reasons he couldn't explain, he couldn't help but be kind to her, even from the very beginning.

"What do you have now?" Draco asked once they continued to move down the corridor, completely moving past their little fight which often happened between them now as a form of flirtation.

"Umm... I actually have a study period with McGonagall. You?"

"Me too."

"Half the period will be over by now so I suggest we hurry up." Rebecca recommended.

"What's the rush?" Draco asked as he stopped her against a wall. "We could always study something else." He said as he properly had Rebecca pinned against the wall, his arms on either side of her shoulders.

"Is that your way of flirting with me?" Rebecca asked jokingly, just as a Slytherin second year rounded the corner and stopped dead in his tracks. Rebecca bit her lower lip to refrain from laughing at the young boy's horrified expression.

"What?" Draco asked as he dropped one arm to turn around and see. He immediately stood up a lot straighter.

"Not. A. Word." He threatened the boy menacingly. "Now get!" He instructed and the boy immediately made his way back the direction he had come. Once he was gone again Draco turned around and placed his arm back where had been a moment ago.

"Do you know him?" Rebecca asked.

"I've seen him around the common room." He replied, not giving the matter a second thought.

"Anyway," He started, but before he could finish Rebecca had slid down the wall and ducked under his arms, out of his reach and away from the wall.

"Seriously, so far we already have a week's detention and that's bad enough. Skipping classes isn't making anything any better." Rebecca said, changing topic dramatically and Draco rolled his eyes.

"Come on!" Rebecca ushered and grabbed him by the wrist to drag him down the corridor as it didn't look like he was going to move by himself.

"The least we could do is get as much research for that potion out of the way now while we have the opportunity."

"Thinking ahead now, are we?" Draco moaned. Rebecca sighed.

"Come on, you twit."

"Oh, I'm really offended." He faked, placing his hand over his heart and pulling a worried sort of face.

"I hate you." Rebecca smiled at his ignorance.

"Love me or hate me, either way you're thinking of me." He smiled cheekily.

"You self centred tosser." Rebecca poked him in the chest. He laughed just as they reached the door to McGonagall's classroom. They pushed the door open to see McGonagall standing at the front of the silent room tapping her foot impatiently. Rebecca supposed they may have been able to hear them.

"About time you two showed up! Where have you been?" She asked, quite annoyed, as the whole class turned to look at the pair. Rebecca and Draco glanced at each other.

"We had to speak to Professor Slughorn... it was important..." Rebecca said quietly as she felt the pressure of everyone's attention cause the heat to run to her face.

"Very well, sit here and stop disrupting everyone else." She said quickly, pointing to two vacant seats at the front of the classroom.

"Everyone is so annoyed today, Snape, Slughorn, McGonagall..." Draco whispered as they waded through the studying students.

"Not to mention Sprout and Pomfrey..." Rebecca added. He frowned.

"Wha-?" She had raised her bandaged hand to show him before he could even finish saying 'what'.

"Right." He said, remembering.

They made themselves comfortable rather loudly for such a silent room. They were frowned upon once again by McGonagall as they spread their books across the table. They took as many notes and gathered as much information as possible for the potion in the remainder of the lesson. Once they were dismissed they went their own ways once again. Rebecca saw Ron and Harry and quickly caught up to them.

"Hey, guys, thanks for waiting." She huffed sarcastically as she barged between the two.

"Hey, no worries." Harry waved her off.

"Can I ask you an honest question?" Ron asked suddenly, looking very serious.

"Yeah...?" Rebecca raised one eyebrow.

"Was it just me, or when you _finally_ came to class, was Malfoy actually laughing?" He asked, still looking dead serious. Rebecca looked back to Harry for a couple of seconds as he did her before they burst into fits of laughter.

"Everyone laughs, Ron! Including Malfoy. He laughs all the time." Rebecca replied, grinning broadly in amusement.

"No, I know... but it sounded different." He frowned as he began to think.

"Different how?" Rebecca asked as her laughter settled.

"Different like... not a laugh of mockery or teasing, but... actually laughing. You know what I mean?" He managed before confusing himself.

"Right, Ron, whatever you say." Harry dusted off, although he sent Rebecca a bit of a worried look.

"Why were you so late anyway?" Ron asked.

"Oh, we just had to sort out some detention with Slughorn." Rebecca replied simply.

"What did you get detention for?" Harry asked.

"For... scaring a first year." She muttered, obviously not being the best lie she had ever told.

"Scaring a first year? You must've scared him pretty damn well to get a detention for it!" Harry laughed.

"Yeah, we got him good..." Rebecca went with him, remembering the terrified second year.

The rest of the day drifted by steadily without too many more bumps in the road. The last classes of the day eventually ended, and before they knew it all the students were in and out of the Great Hall for dinner at their own pace. Rebecca was sitting at the Gryffindor table with all her friends who were greatly engaged in conversation amongst themselves. Most of it was along the lines of classes, gossip, thank god Monday's over, and just general every day stuff. At the present moment they were having a laugh over some stupid joke about 'pumpkin heads'.

"Whyte..." Rebecca looked down the Gryffindor table thinking she had heard someone call her name. She couldn't see anyone trying to grasp her attention so she simply recoiled back into the conversation.

"Whyte...!" She heard once more, sounding a bit harsher than the last time. Again she looked up and down the table. Seeing no one yet again, she frowned and then sat still and waited to hear it for the third time.

"For Merlin's sake!" She heard someone mutter behind her. She twisted herself around to see Draco turned from the Slytherin table to face her. She looked past him briefly to see Blaise watching Draco very intently. Noticing her gaze, Blaise quickly looked from Rebecca to Draco, then back to Rebecca again and a small smile formed on his lips and he winked. He startled Rebecca and jumped a bit in surprise. _What was that for?_ Rebecca thought, puzzled.

Draco, in seeing Rebecca's confused reaction, followed her gaze and turned his head to see Blaise. Blaise's attention quickly turned to Draco as he said something bitterly to him, causing Blaise to simply roll his eyes and turn back to his fellow Slytherins. Rebecca couldn't have heard what Draco had said above the noise of the chattering students.

Once he turned back to Rebecca again, he shook his head as if to brush off whatever had happened in reference to Blaise. He then cocked his head, motioning to the front of the Great Hall where the teachers sat. After a moment of searching for what he may have been looking at, Rebecca saw Slughorn talking to Snape.

"You mean Slughorn and Snape?" She asked over the noise. He nodded and then they both turned to watch the two professors, keeping an eye out for any clue regarding their detentions. It took them only a few minutes.

At the beginning it had looked like a casual conversation, but the more they talked, the more distressed Slughorn seemed to become while Snape remained quite calm, possibly very persistent on keeping the detentions he had set.

Only towards the end had Snape actually turned to see Slughorn properly, as though he had heard something that he hadn't before. They talked for not too much longer, Snape looking a bit frustrated and Slughorn quite baffled, until Snape nodded his head and Slughorn also did in return before they turned away from each other. They had finally agreed on something, obviously involving the pair's punishment. Rebecca wasn't sure whether it was good or bad. She glanced at Draco who looked to be just as unsure as she was. He looked back to her with a blank expression and shrugged in defiance. Rebecca pouted before they both resumed back to their separate tables.

Rebecca looked up to catch Harry and Hermione diagonally across from her who had quite obviously been watching their interaction. Hermione quickly looked away, though Harry looked between them and the teachers before looking at Rebecca questionably once more.

"It's nothing!" She moaned, thinking over all the possibilities that could be going through Harry's head. This had now caught onto Ron's and Parvati's attention who were sitting on either side of Rebecca, and the twins' attention who were sitting directly across from her.

"What's going on?" Ron asked, looking from Rebecca over to Harry. Harry and Hermione naturally looked past Rebecca and over to the Slytherin table before saying anything. Everyone had silenced before they heard a distraught Pansy Parkinson screech from the Slytherin table behind them.

"_Draco!"_ In the very same moment Rebecca's group of friends all turned to look at the Slytherins directly opposite them, only to see a group of them of around the same size turn to look at them, as well as a few onlookers. Draco and Rebecca instantly locked eyes, wide eyed and mortified, knowing exactly what the other was thinking. Blaise had been acting as suspicious as Harry and Hermione had which caused the Slytherins to turn around to see what he had been looking at. Rebecca and Draco both turned back to their own tables again, though the two groups continued to stare for a moment longer. Rebecca swore on her life she had never been so embarrassed or red handed, and her face had never felt so hot. She felt like shrinking to never be seen again.

After what felt like hours, the Gryffindor group finally turned back, wondering what on earth had just happened, and hopefully the Slytherins had done the same. Rebecca knew Pansy Parkinson was a drama queen, and she was definitely one for a scene. Rebecca knew that without even personally knowing her all that well. It made her want to disappear all the more when a fair amount of students watched the minor scene behind her, knowing that she could well be the cause.

"Aargh!" Pansy screamed before marching straight out of the Great Hall dramatically. The usual chatter noise picked up again once she was gone and Rebecca heard Blaise laugh while Draco cursed at him.

"What the hell just happened?" Ron asked.

"I have _no_ idea." George replied.

"That was _really_ weird." Parvati added.

"Have we done something?" Fred asked.

"_We_ haven't." Harry muttered before raising his eyebrows questionably in Rebecca's direction, and hers shot up as well as she realised he was pointing the finger at her.

She looked up quickly to see Professor Snape leaving the Great Hall. She turned around slightly to see Draco look at her, also noticing that Snape was leaving. He cocked his head again, this time motioning to the huge oak doors to leave. They nodded at the same time before Rebecca turned back to everyone again. It appeared that Rebecca and Draco's silent communication was greatly improving.

"What time is it?" Rebecca asked no one in particular.

"It's... ten to eight." Hermione said, checking her wrist watch.

"Okay, thanks. Umm, I'll see you guys later, okay?" She said, getting up.

"Where are you going?" Parvati asked.

"I have to go to a detention." She said, and everybody looked at her quite surprised. Apparently Rebecca wasn't the usual type to get a detention.

"A detention for what?" Hermione asked.

"I'll... explain later..." She smiled hopefully before walking away. As she did she heard Ron say something about scaring first years.

Draco was walking a bit ahead of Rebecca in terms of leaving the Great Hall. She felt a monstrous wave of relief almost drown her after leaving her friends. Snape had good timing, saving her from digging her deep, deep hole even deeper. Though, the Pansy and the Gryffindor versus Slytherin stare off wasn't helping her climb her way out either.


	22. Chapter 22

Draco was waiting just outside the entrance to the Great Hall for Rebecca. As soon as they saw each other they kept walking down the quiet corridor towards their detention with Snape, the noise and chatter from dinner slowly fading away.

"Well. That was awkward." Rebecca said straight out. Draco hardly nodded.

"It was." He agreed bluntly.

"For a second I honestly thought... everyone just knew." She said softly.

"Me too, actually. I thought something may have slipped and all your Gryffindor friends found out."

"Actually, we only just turned around when Parkinson threw a little tantrum... what were all of you talking about?"

"Umm... I think Blaise is a little suspicious."

"Well that would explain why he was looking at us funnily." Rebecca resolved.

"Yeah... um, he said something about me having a new girlfriend and Pansy flipped." Draco explained. "But he didn't give anything away; he didn't say anything else after that." He added quickly.

"... Why did all those Slytherins turn around to look at us then?" Rebecca asked.

"... I don't know." He said truthfully.

"That's... really strange." Rebecca frowned. They were silent until they had reached Snape's classroom. They stopped right outside the closed door and simply stood there.

"Go on, knock." Rebecca urged Draco. He swiftly looked down to her and stepped back.

"You knock." He insisted.

"I don't think so. You're more on his good side than I am." Rebecca used as a lame excuse.

"I doubt that. This is so embarrassing."

"What, arguing?"

"No. Having a detention with Snape of all people because he caught us snogging!" Draco said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"We're on the same page there..." Rebecca nodded. "But you knock."

"We're going in circles here..." Draco sighed.

"So knock!" Rebecca urged one last time before he gave in and knocked on the door. They heard Snape's muffled voice telling them to come in and Rebecca followed Draco in.

"About time someone decided to knock." Snape glared with his usual monotone-ness from behind his desk. They quietly walked side by side to stand in front of him.

"Professor Slughorn kindly asked to rearrange detentions due to the fact you have an out of class Potion assessment, correct?" Snape asked bluntly.

"Yes, Professor." Rebecca and Draco said together.

"He also deemed it stupid for dealing a week's detention for merely scaring a first year." Snape added, and the tension in the air immediately thickened. Neither of them moved. That had been why Snape had looked so startled and Slughorn had looked so baffled.

"You directly lied to a teacher, while also trying to wriggle yourselves out of a detention!" He snapped, "I would not expect this kind of behaviour from students such as yourselves!"

"Sorry, Professor." They mumbled quietly.

"You deserve those detentions twice as much!" The both of them nodded, silently understanding. Snape paused for a brief moment before continuing.

"Therefore Professor Slughorn and I have come up with some arrangements. Follow me." Rebecca and Draco looked at each other, nervous and wide eyed, before briskly following Snape out of the classroom and down a couple of the more common corridors. They continuously glanced at one another, working their silent communication, as they had no clue as to where they were going.

They came to a stop directly outside a door in a main corridor, one which Rebecca always thought to be a storage cupboard or something of the sort. She'd never seen anybody go in, let alone pay any attention to it.

"Hand me your wands." Snape commanded as he held out his hand, and they reluctantly handed them over. He glared at them once more before leading them inside. It was dark, smelled mouldy, was crowded with old classroom objects and coated in a thick layer of dust.

"We wish to use this room as a classroom suitable for the younger students, and who else better to transform it than yourselves?" He asked rhetorically.

"You are to be in here working on it every afternoon until it is done. Understood? Immediately after afternoon lessons you are to come straight here, no excuses." He then muttered a spell and handed their wands back.

"Magic will be limited in this room only. You start tomorrow. Don't be late." Were his final words as he left almost immediately. Rebecca and Draco stood silently side by side, frantically glancing over the room which looked like it hadn't been touched for fifty years, before glancing at each other in mild shock. This was sure to take more than a week, which meant they were really going to struggle with the potion and possibly other classes. They would barely have any spare time left, being together almost full time it appeared. Normally coming to an end of a school term things would begin to wind down, but they were just about to become busier than ever.

* * *

There was no slowing down the next day; it came in the blink of an eye. All Rebecca's friends she had left behind at dinner the previous night seemed incredibly suspicious and were forever subtly questioning her. She would easily ramble off lie after lie, which she had hoped sounded convincing at the time because now she wasn't so sure. In the past twenty-four hours she'd dug her pre-mentioned hole so far that she felt trapped and exhausted and could no longer see the light at the top anymore.

This morning she had concentrated so hard on being on time and talking as little as possible that the time from breakfast to now, which was the end of her third lesson, had glided by smoothly but ridiculously fast. Following the crowd on her way to her next class she felt a familiar presence gently bump into her from behind, lean down to her ear and urgently whisper.

"We need to talk." Rebecca immediately knew something was wrong. Just when she thought there was a possibility of having an ordinary day of lurking in the background like it used to be... it appeared she wasn't deemed as her old self in her eyes anymore.

Straight away she broke away from the crowd to somewhere more quiet and lonely, Draco following her. They stopped where they were only just out of their fellow students' view. Rebecca felt scared; that simple sentence never meant anything good, no matter who's mouth it came from.

"What's the matter?" She squeaked quickly. Draco shuffled like he was quite irritated and Rebecca kept noticing he was looking towards the unseen student body anxiously.

"Remember yesterday when we stopped on our way to McGonagall's study period and we were encountered by that... young Slytherin kid?"

"Yeah..." Rebecca prompted, remembering the short scenario.

"Well, apparently the slimy git doesn't understand English!" Draco blurted out angrily.

"What do you mean?" Rebecca frowned.

"I specifically warned him to not even _think_ about saying anything before he ran off, but of course he bloody well did anyway."

"What?" Rebecca said in disbelief.

"You heard me!" Draco snapped.

"Calm down for a minute," She retaliated kindly and placing her hand on his arm gently. Listening, he paused briefly and slowed down before explaining.

"When I got back to the common room last night after Snape showed us that room, that kid, I don't even know his name, was sitting around with his friends and I swear all of Slytherin were watching me and gossiping about me when I was right there. I spoke to the kid, and as soon as I got it out of him he ran off like the little girl he is. He told all of his friends what he saw, who told other people and now everyone is telling each other a different story about you and me."

"Different stories?" Rebecca asked.

"Rumours! They've twisted it all into what they want to hear, and some of them would almost be funny if they didn't involve me. Someone asked me if it was true if we were having sex on the floor in the middle of the corridor." He whinged, though there was almost a smile playing on his lips. Rebecca couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"Even my best friends; Blaise was asking me questions all night! Even this morning." Rebecca paused and looked at him seriously.

"All my friends have been asking me questions too, since we left for Snape's detention last night. I think people are just putting facts together... it can't be hard to figure out..." She said, her mind ticking like clockwork.

"What do you think they've figured out?" He asked.

"I'm not sure, could be anything. They've probably made something up like the whole of Slytherin. Have you heard anybody say the truth?" She asked in wonder.

"Mm... no, I don't think so. Have you?"

"Um... kind of... not really,"

"Wait, what?" He sounded confused.

"The other night... Harry and Hermione kind of took me aside and I'm guessing that they pretty much had it figured out. Well, almost. I kind of let it slip. Remember, the other night when you rambled on about some fire?"

"Don't remind me. But you told _them_? Of _all_ people!" Draco began getting angry again.

"Surely you've told someone!" Rebecca defended.

"Actually, no. I've wanted to at times, but I haven't." He admitted.

"Really?" Rebecca was shocked, and had expected all along that he would be the first to tell someone. That was why she had let it slip in the first place.

"Yes. Can we make it even?" He asked.

"What?"

"It's only fair I get to tell one of my friends now,"

"Who are you going to tell?"

"...Blaise." He decided.

"Can Blaise keep a secret?" Rebecca asked, with the feeling they were letting their secret go completely.

"Can Granger and Potter?" Draco asked. He had a point. Draco wouldn't trust Hermione and Harry by choice, and the same went for Rebecca trusting Blaise. But fair was fair.

"Fine. You can tell Blaise, but that's it. And I promise I won't tell anyone else, and after that neither can you." Rebecca said firmly.

"Why do you get two people and I get only one?" He complained.

"Because, who else are you going to tell? Crabbe and Goyle? Bloody Pansy? We really don't need _them_ spreading stupid rumours to the rest of Slytherin, let alone the whole school." Rebecca thought of quickly as a reasonable excuse. Draco remained silent for a moment.

"Fine." He finally agreed.

"He was suspicious anyway, wasn't he?" Rebecca asked, remembering last night.

"Yeah," Draco breathed.

"You're probably only confirming what he already knows then. Just like Harry and Hermione, I suppose."

"Would you stop bringing them into it?" He cringed.

"Sorry. Get back to me on Blaise?" Rebecca asked, thinking this might be fun.

"Sure." He replied glumly. Rebecca nudged him gently.

"Cheer up. See you after school?" She said as she began walking to class. He pressed his lips into a thin line and nodded once.

"Can't wait." He said so enthusiastically it was certainly sarcastic, and left in the other direction.

When Rebecca arrived at her next class it looked as though she was one of the last there. She spotted one last empty double table and so quickly filled one space. When the professor finally arrived the class settled as she explained today's task, in which they were to work in pairs. Rebecca was the only exception however as everyone else already had a partner. Until Harry walked in almost fifteen minutes late, and then was forced to be Rebecca's partner by occupying the only free seat.

Ever since Harry had learned about Rebecca and Draco, and Rebecca completely opposing Harry's opinions and suspicions of him, things seemed a little rocky between them. They were still friends and everything was normal, but it still felt as though something wasn't quite right. Just knowing that he knew made Rebecca feel edgy, Draco being his arch nemesis. Rebecca and Harry were suddenly two different people when they were together, like fire and ice.

"Bec," Harry greeted as he sat down.

"Harry," She responded simply.

"Sorry I'm late, what are we doing?" He asked immediately. Rebecca explained their small in class research task that they had to complete in pairs. It was silent for several minutes as they split the task in half and delved into their books. After a short while Rebecca was tapping her fingers anxiously and glancing at Harry every now and then who was solidly concentrating on his work. Boys were just so simple. In the end Rebecca couldn't help herself.

"A-are we okay, Harry?" She stuttered, breaking the stale silence between them as the rest of the class worked loudly. He stopped and looked at her like she had a second head.

"Yeah, why wouldn't we be?" He said quickly and turning back to his work.

"Just... ever since the other night, when you and Hermione took me aside," She said cautiously, almost whispering. She watched Harry carefully as his eyes very momentarily flicked to her and then straight back to his books.

"What about it?" He mumbled involuntary, quite obviously not wanting to talk about it.

"I-I... I can't put my finger on it exactly. I just..."

"You just what, Bec?" Harry cut her off, apparently annoyed as he dropped his quill roughly and turned fully to face her properly for the first time.

"You need to know that I'm completely okay with all of this? You want to know that I'm supporting you? Just so you know, I doubt you're going to get the answer you want to hear." He huffed angrily. Rebecca was stunned for several seconds before she was able to speak again.

"What if this situation were in reverse, Harry? What if it were you dating someone you cared about? What if you were dating someone who I wasn't friends with? Someone I didn't like, but you valued my opinion anyway? You would want to know that I was okay with it, that I supported you, and trusted you. Wouldn't you?" She snapped in defence, though she regretted getting angry.

"What, you're dating now?" Harry fell back into his chair in disbelief.

"That's not what I asked." Rebecca furrowed her eyebrows. Harry leaned forward onto the desk and covered his face with his hands as he sighed. Rebecca waited.

"This isn't about some made up person you don't happen to like that I'm apparently involved in with. This is about reality: _you_, being with _Draco Malfoy_." He slowly emphasized.

"Harry... why can't you seem to trust me with this?" She asked almost sadly.

"What am I supposed to trust you with?"

"I need you to trust me, Draco is a good person. We're close, we enjoy each other's company, and I know him. You obviously don't know him the same, and so all I'm asking is that you can support my decision and trust that this is a good thing."

"I'm sorry, but I'm finding that hard to do." He answered blandly.

"Why?" Rebecca finally asked. Harry looked at her again, this time like she had sprouted a third head.

"Do you really feel the need for me to explain all over again?" He asked and Rebecca sighed in defeat.

"Okay... can we call a truce?"

"How do you find a truce in this situation?" Harry frowned, frustrated.

"You trust me, and at least pretend to be happy for me. Draco is innocent until proven guilty." Rebecca held out her hand. Harry stared at her hard in the eye as he thought it over. He then reached over and shook her hand firmly.

"Deal. But I can guarantee that I will get proof." Harry promised her as he looked her in the eye.

"I doubt that." She retorted smartly.

"Where does this leave us now?" Harry asked, sounding like his usual self once more.

"Friends?" Rebecca asked hopefully.

"Friends." Harry agreed and they smiled gratefully at each other for the first time in days. Rebecca then absentmindedly glanced towards the rest of the room, only to find Pansy Parkinson sitting directly behind them, staring straight at Rebecca and Harry and looking both shocked and extremely angry. Straight away Rebecca whipped herself around to face the front of the classroom and buried her face in her hands, quietly cursing to herself. Pansy had heard Rebecca and Harry's entire conversation. Harry took one swift look behind him, obviously coming to the same conclusion that Rebecca had.

"Someone doesn't look too happy." Harry murmured.

"Mmm," Rebecca groaned, "Does she ever?"

"You have a point," Harry almost laughed. Rebecca didn't though. She felt as if she had just gotten into a huge amount of trouble, collapsing on the desk and whinging via mild curse words.

"What's the matter?" Harry said quietly, leaning closer.

"She didn't know anything! She wasn't supposed to either!" Rebecca cried into the desk.

"What? How could she not? She follows Draco around like a lost puppy." Harry said.

"Doesn't mean he tells her everything." She replied.

"Really? If Pansy, of all people, doesn't know about you and _Malfoy_, who does?" He whispered cautiously. Rebecca lifted herself off the desk, sitting on the very edge of her chair.

"As far as I know only you and Hermione." Rebecca answered.

"Just me and Hermione." Harry repeated.

"Yeah, I mean, you guys are the only people I've told. Draco is going to tell Blaise Zabini, if he hasn't already. He was a bit suspicious anyway." Rebecca added.

"What's Malfoy going around telling other Slytherins for? It's meant to be a secret, isn't it? Can't trust them..." Harry rushed. Rebecca glared knowingly at him.

"Relationships are a two way street, Harry- I was the first to crack, I told just two of my friends. He has a right to at least one of his. Blaise is the only person he's telling though, we both decided. Crabbe and Goyle and Pansy would let every living thing know." She said.

"You're not wrong there." Harry chuckled.

"Yet, look who is telling people one by one without even realising it. Can't even keep my own secret." Rebecca scolded herself.

"Don't be too harsh on yourself. Just for the record, Blaise isn't the only suspicious one." Harry tried comforting her, and she looked at him wide eyed.

"But most people are doubting any of it anyway. Don't worry about Pansy; just rumours. Right?" Harry reassured her.

"Thanks, Harry." She smiled gratefully.

"What are supportive and trusting friends for?" Rebecca laughed at him before casting one last glance at Pansy, who looked to be rushing to get all her work done. Rebecca sighed regretfully as both Harry and herself turned back to their own. This day that Rebecca was aspiring to be a completely normal, boring school day just kept on getting curiouser and curiouser.

"There are plenty of different rumours floating around Slytherin at the moment anyway, apparently." Rebecca said, recalling her last conversation with Draco.

"Like what?" Harry cocked his head to one side.

"I don't know, Draco didn't really say. He said everyone seemed to be gossiping and manipulating each others' stories into really stupid things like... us having sex on the floor in the middle of the corridor." Rebecca shook her head. Harry looked horrified, but then appeared to be having a hard time holding back his laughter. Rebecca almost joined him.

"Don't laugh, it's actually kind of bad." She almost giggled.

"How did this start?" He grinned.

"Yesterday this young Slytherin kid walked in on us," Rebecca started.

"Walked in on you?" Harry said, startled.

"Yeah... only flirting. Draco warned him not to say anything but he did anyway."

"And this happened just yesterday? I wonder what's in store for you once Pansy gets out of here." Harry mumbled.

"Yeah... you know, we haven't told anyone, but that detention Draco and I had together? We lied about it and it got out of hand, and now we have to spend as long as it takes us to restore this ancient room. The original detention was from Snape walking in on us." Rebecca told him, getting it all off her chest.

"Flirting?" Harry asked.

"No... Snogging." She corrected him, feeling her cheeks turn pink. Harry looked stuck for words and Rebecca quickly turned back to her books as though she had said too much.

"Just one question... why are you suddenly telling me all of this?" He queried. Rebecca looked at him for a quick moment.

"...You're the first person that I've really talked to about any of this, besides Draco. I suppose it feels good to finally get some of this weight off my shoulders..." She answered uncertainly.

"Oh," Harry mouthed, just realising how much of a secret everything really was.

"Just remember, I'm trusting you with this." She quickly reminded him.

"Nothing leaves this room." He promised and Rebecca smiled gratefully.

"Well..." He made it sound like he was having second thoughts as he started turning his head to look at Pansy.

"Oh, stop." Rebecca playfully pushed him as they quietly laughed at themselves. They continued working on their tasks diligently, though often stopping for several minutes at a time just to chat and catch up a little bit. The conversation seemed to keep on rounding off to the topic of Draco, however. Question after question, Harry seemed to be somewhat familiarising himself with the idea of Rebecca and Draco, which Rebecca thought rather unusual. But it felt supportive, so she didn't mind all that much. Finally being able to talk to someone openly about it for the first time felt so relieving and she hardly thought once to keep any 'secret' from Harry. She did miss the minor detail every now and then, however, feeling it wasn't on the need-to-know-basis.

"What happened that night after we left you to wander the castle by yourself?" Harry asked.

"Which night?" Rebecca attempted to recall.

"Remember? The night you just happened to run into Malfoy and when you got back you said it was too soon to tell us what happened." Harry said, jogging Rebecca's memory.

"Oh, the night you lent me your cloak," She remembered specifically which night he was talking about, one she was never bound to forget. A small smile surfaced on her face as her mind wandered back to that night.

"Well?" Harry prompted her. She sighed.

"You would probably think it stupid... and corny... you wouldn't trust him. You wouldn't have it at all." Rebecca tried telling him.

"You've told me everything else to do with him just now, or it seems like it." He pushed.

"Can I ask you a question first?" Rebecca asked, testing. Harry shrugged in defiance.

"I suppose." He said. Rebecca continued to quickly scribble down some notes as she thought.

"If you had the chance, would you befriend Draco?" She asked plainly and loudly as she reached the end of her parchment. Harry hesitated.

"Given what terms?" He asked. Rebecca looked up at him sincerely.

"Given nothing." Harry looked to be almost frozen in time, her having put him on the spot. If you looked carefully enough it was evident he didn't know his own answer, his eyes squinting and his heart torn.

"It's a simple question, Harry." Rebecca reassured him seriously. They both knew upfront what his answer would have been given he didn't have a second thought. It was obvious he had to consider his answer carefully now, after spending the last hour with Rebecca and having her spill his guts to him, trusting him with every word that left her mouth. Rebecca was beginning to feel just as unsure as Harry was. What was the right answer? It suddenly felt like a do or die situation.

Rebecca quickly gathered both Harry's and her own papers to hand in as one and recoiled her books into a neat pile, thinking about Harry's answer just as much as he was. She didn't know what she wanted to hear. She didn't even know why she asked the question. But now all she wanted was a plain, simple answer. Rebecca thought still, all that she wanted, was Harry to take the chance for her sake and avoid all conflict. Though, even if Harry did take that chance it would probably be a stupid one, embarrassing even. Rebecca doubted Draco would take that chance in return.

She looked over to him once more, prepared. He was completely lost for answers. Rebecca took in a deep breath.

"That night when I bumped into Draco... cutting short... he told me he loved me." She quietly answered him as they were dismissed from class.


	23. Chapter 23

Rebecca must have been one of the first out of the room, leaving Harry before he could even get up from his chair. She caught just one glimpse of his face before she left. It looked as though every emotion had drained from him, leaving him stone cold and unable to react. After that conversation Rebecca was unsure, once again, where she with stood Harry. She thought they were mostly on the same page, but she was certain they weren't interpreting the words the same.

The rest of the day trundled by slowly and turned into a very boring afternoon. Rebecca felt like she had been hardly conscious for the past couple of hours, not knowing where her mind had wondered off to, let alone where all that apparently wasted time had gone. Finally, the last class of the day had ended and Rebecca's mind clicked into gear. She left her few friends she had been in class with, who were confused again as she hadn't explained where or why she was going. She was going to the godforsaken room Draco and herself were to clean up together, serving their first afternoon of detention. Rebecca was surprised to find Draco already waiting inside. She dropped her things in a heap by the door.

"Good afternoon, Draco. How was your day?" She asked in a polite, though comical way. Draco looked over from where he was seated with one eye brow raised.

"What have I done to receive such a greeting?" He asked lowly.

"I was only being polite." Rebecca smiled, standing by the door awkwardly. Draco half nodded, as though he had decided to acknowledge her.

"Alright, I suppose. Quite uneventful. You?" He asked, gesturing towards Rebecca slightly with one hand. She strained a grin.

"Yeah... same." She said as she wandered over to sit on a surface covered by a white sheet near Draco.

"Why don't I believe you?" He asked, sitting up straighter and paying more attention now that Rebecca was closer.

"Something may have happened... um, I-" Rebecca couldn't have been interrupted more quickly by Snape opening the classroom door with a bang. Not expecting it, Rebecca and Draco both jumped. Snape stared for a split second, possibly taking in what was happening in the room. He perceived it as nothing.

"Glad to see you are both here before I was. Though, a disappointment to see you are both sitting around as though you have somewhere else better to be." He mumbled slowly. Rebecca looked across to Draco briefly, expecting him to do the same, but he was still staring at Snape with a hard face.

"If I were you I'd get to it to prevent myself from staying here even longer." He hinted, staring down his long hooked nose at them as he turned to leave again. As soon as the door had closed behind him Draco stood up, sighing.

"You were saying?" He asked as he started moving furniture to the side of the room. Rebecca stood up, copying him.

"Yeah... I was talking to Harry a lot today. About you and me, I mean," Rebecca began and Draco's face turned sour.  
"It really disturbs me that he's one of the only people to know about my... current love life." He complained. Rebecca's stomach fluttered at his use of words, but she couldn't help but worry about how he had brushed it off so nonchalantly.

"And I'm sure it disturbs him all the same." Rebecca grinned as though she didn't care. "Anyway, we talked a lot about you and I, to say the least, and well..." Rebecca paused. Draco looked at her, expressionless, waiting for her to continue before moving another piece of furniture.

"What, he doesn't approve?" Draco smirked, knowing Harry never would.

"Well, yeah, but... it wasn't until the very end that I realised Pansy Parkinson had overheard our entire conversation." Rebecca finished, and Draco accidently rammed the piece of furniture he was moving very hard into another one, causing him to stumble violently.

"What?" He asked as though he had simply misunderstood, and he straightened himself up. Rebecca knew he had understood her perfectly well, so she continued.

"I also told him that you were going to tell Blaise because he was suspicious, and he said that Blaise _wasn't_ the only suspicious one." Rebecca added. Draco leaned heavily against a dusty cupboard and exhaled loudly, folding his arms.

"Who else would be suspicious?" He asked plainly.

"I don't know, it's the first time I've heard anything like this before." Rebecca replied. Draco appeared to be deep in thought.

"Harry said most people doubt it anyway, if that helps." Rebecca interrupted his thoughts.

"Sounds like the rumour mill has gone outside of Slytherin's walls then." He concluded, strangely calm. Rebecca shrugged, not liking the sound of it.

"Especially now that Pansy has heard it from a direct source." He added, and Rebecca thought he was blaming her outright.

"I'm really sorry, I honestly didn't know," She began to apologize.

"But that's all they are, aren't they? Rumours?" He interrupted, obviously not giving a damn. He had a point though. No one had any proof to go with their twisted stories, not even Pansy. And out of all the drama possibly going on in Hogwarts, it was highly unlikely that they were the only ones being talked about, let alone cared for.

"No one has any proof. There's nothing to worry about." He said, confirming Rebecca's exact thoughts as he turned back to the furniture. Rebecca smiled to herself. Again, they may have more in common than she had originally thought. Rebecca too turned to move an old, heavy teacher's desk as she changed the topic slightly.

"Did you tell Blaise?" She asked.

"Yeah..." He answered simply. Rebecca was struggling to move the heavy desk by tugging vigorously on one end.

"How'd... it _go?_" She accidently emphasized her words to coincide with her struggling actions. Draco quickly noticed and stood at the other end of the desk, pushing it with so much force that Rebecca had to jump out of the way.

"It went fine." He finally replied. Rebecca watched him with a careful eye as he dragged a couple of chairs, loudly scraping across the floor.

"Well... what did he say?" Draco came back to the middle of the room and sat on a remaining table.

"Actually, he said a lot of the same stuff you said Potter did. He said people are starting to question us. Blaise actually does think, and I quote, that you're a quality girl, even for a Gryffindor. But that's just the problem; you're a Gryffindor. He thinks if people find out there will be consequences."

"_Consequences_?" Rebecca repeated.

"Yeah, Blaise didn't really explain. But I'm pretty sure we both know what he meant. If people find out the truth they would... disregard us, more or less." He tried to explain.

"This all comes back to reputations again, doesn't it?" Rebecca sighed, taking a seat a few tables away from Draco. He slowly nodded as he thought.

"Harry said most people doubt it though." Rebecca repeated herself, which felt to be her only hope of there ever being a good outcome out of this.

"_Most_ people, not all. That's probably only in Gryffindor, too," Draco deciphered Harry's words. It was quiet as they thought, their brains making the same connections as they made sense of the situation.

"So... you're saying," Rebecca began.

"That I think Slytherin will probably... investigate, for a lack of better words. They'll want to know what's going on with... me." Draco finished for Rebecca.

"And so they probably_ will_ get proof, and so we _do_ have something to worry about." Rebecca concluded, contradicting Draco's words and her own thoughts from earlier. Draco looked up from the floor and into Rebecca's eyes. He looked stuck. Just stuck. He couldn't say her regretted her, because he didn't. But he certainly had enough on his plate as it was. Rebecca stared straight back, looking for answers until he sighed and finally looked away.

"Looks like it." Draco said quietly as he stood up. Rebecca quickly slid off the table and stood in front of him.

"What if..." Rebecca started as she thought way too quickly. Draco looked at her uncertainly.

"What if..." He prompted her.

"What if in classes, and if anybody asks us anything, we just put on an act?" She suggested quickly.

"An act of what?" He asked, puzzled as he sat back down on the table.

"We pretend we are how everyone expects us to be." She explained.

"Go on." He stated interestedly.

"In the public eye we act as Gryffindors and Slytherins really should. We hate each other, we disagree all the time, we... boast in front of our friends, basically. That way, they won't believe the 'rumours'." Rebecca explained further. Draco was quietly laughing to himself. He nodded once, a sly look in his eyes.

"I knew there was a good reason why I chose you."

* * *

Another week had flown by, the end of term becoming more and more visible. Well, visible for most. For Rebecca and Draco everything was ridiculously complicated. Every afternoon they reported to detention, and every moment spent there was a productive one. The entire room had been dusted and polished from top to bottom, and now all that was left was to sort through and rearrange, possibly mend some, classroom belongings.

In regards to school work, on top of their detention, they had become rather stressed and were slightly behind. Their Felix Felicis potion was due in two days and they had spent almost every break between classes, and sometimes excusing themselves from detention early, to work on it.

Already feeling tired and gruff, all the added strain from 'being enemies' in the eye of the students wasn't helping much either. It was too much effort. All the sneaking off for the potion and detention by themselves in a 'broom closet' was completely contradicting their 'acting', and they doubted they were fooling anyone anymore.

They had individually been confronted by Blaise and Harry because they knew something wasn't right, and had been asked 'what the hell is going on', and 'you two are acting like you're married or something', and Rebecca's all time favourite courtesy of Blaise via Draco, 'you obviously shagged, she's not as great as you thought she would be and she took it hard'. Though, they had hardly touched each other all week.

Besides all their real life drama, Rebecca personally was becoming more and more worried about Pansy Parkinson, if not paranoid. Pansy appeared to be one of the only people to be fooled by Rebecca and Draco's fake arguing, even as of late it wasn't so fake anymore. Nevertheless, Pansy loved every moment of it and was becoming more and more unbearably close to Draco who, naturally, completely accepted it. There was no telling what could be happening behind the scenes. It didn't take Rebecca long to realise that on top of detention, all her homework, pretending to loathe Draco, her rising stress levels, arguing with Draco, her paranoia and her constant tiredness, that she was damn jealous.

It was Wednesday afternoon of the second last week of term, and once again Rebecca had quickly escaped from her familiar crowd to go to the half finished, actually, half undone, classroom. During the last week Rebecca felt as though she had turned completely foul, and she was beginning to think her friends had noticed. It could have been so bad that they didn't dare ask anything of her; that's what she thought it was, anyway. Going to detention for what felt like the hundredth time was completely unappealing to her at this stage, so she was rather content with running terribly late.

In Rebecca's slow travels, encountering no more than a handful of students, she happened to be unfortunate enough to stumble across Draco and damned Pansy. Just as Rebecca turned into the corridor where the rundown classroom was located, she spotted the two Slytherins to be dawdling in the same direction she was just a few feet in front of her. Before either of them had a chance to notice her, she quickly ducked back around the corner out of sight and peeked her head around only enough to be able to see the pair. They were only just far away enough that Rebecca couldn't make out what they were saying.

As they slowly walked further away from Rebecca's position, she noticed alongside their close proximity that they kept on gently bumping into each other as they swayed when they walked. Something happened deep inside of Rebecca at this point. She thought she felt herself getting strangely angry. She recoiled so she couldn't see them and leaned her back against the stone cold wall, which relieved some tension as she let out a ridiculously large sigh. She closed her eyes.

Without even thinking she leaned forward once more to see them reach the classroom door. They were facing each other now, talking calmly. From what Rebecca could see Draco pulled a face as Pansy moved closer expectantly. As she reached for him, Draco said something quickly. Rebecca's stomach dropped as she became furious, her heart pounding in her hot ears and her mouth turned dry. Out of nowhere Rebecca felt rather hot and flustered, her hands sweating. She looked down at herself as she tried to make sense of her physical reactions. Or maybe she just needed to look away.

Then, a door slammed shut and Rebecca's mind and body froze. She was rooted to the spot, she couldn't think, she could hardly breathe. She was suddenly left feeling alone and very disappointed.

"You're not fooling anybody, Malfoy! I know what's going on!" A shrieking voice echoed through the now lonely corridors. Rebecca's eyes snapped upwards, as her heart started beating again, to see Pansy stomping away from the closed door in the opposite direction. Draco had disappeared from the corridor.

Then, some sort of heat flooded through Rebecca's body from head to toe, and all previous letdown emotions had been entwined with an empowering thrill. She felt like she had somehow won, though she hardly knew she was competing. Rebecca was feeling unsure as her emotions went into overdrive, finally adding up over the past week.

Once Rebecca regained her ability to move she calmly made her way to the classroom door, her quiet and calm appearance completely contradicting her raging thoughts. She slowly turned the doorhandle and very quietly slipped into the old room to find Draco dramatically hunched over the closest desk. Rebecca pouted in wonder as she turned around and silently closed the door. She further entered the room only a few short steps away from the door until Draco willed himself to look at her.

"You fooled me." She said harshly, continuing after Pansy.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco sneered; already annoyed as his stressed emotions had begun to heat up as well.

"Don't act like everything's so normal," Rebecca huffed.

"I'm not." Draco said.

"Pansy is." Rebecca retorted, angered at his apparent obliviousness. Draco raised himself off the desk and turned to fully address her.

"_What_ are you talking about?"

"Are you really so clueless?" Rebecca breathed. Draco looked her up and down as though he was looking for a hint. Rebecca took another step towards him.

"I'm _so_ sick of this Gryffindor versus Slytherin sketch." She stated fiercely.

"It was _your_ damn idea." He said blatantly, suddenly cottoning on to where this was headed.

"You agreed! It's crap! It's made things even worse than they were before." She said.

"Oh, is that right? Care to fill me in?" He sneered disgustedly, also obviously sick and tired of the predicament they had put themselves in and the arguments that ensued.

"Don't be so daft, Malfoy. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Our friends are actually questioning why we _aren't_ together. Every time we see each other everything is pretend." Rebecca explained.

"This isn't so pretend, is it?" He retorted, moving half a step closer.

"No, but it's not normal! We never argued like this,"

"I thought that was the whole point! Aren't we meant to hate each other? Making people believe it?"

"The only person who believes it is Pansy bloody Parkinson!" Rebecca yelled, fed up.

"What does Pansy have to do with anything?" Draco yelled back frustratingly, pressing another step closer which caused Rebecca to fall back a pace.

"She's taking bloody advantage of the whole, fake situation!" Rebecca yelled, feeling like it was the most obvious of all things and he knew it, "And you're going along with it!" Draco suddenly refrained for a moment, pausing to look at Rebecca curiously.

"I saw you only a minute ago. I've been seeing nothing but you two since we started 'hating each other'." Rebecca said loudly, pausing for air quotations. "She's bloody throwing herself at you." Rebecca told him and backed away from him into the door, suddenly fearful of him as he stared at her so intensely that she couldn't even read him. Rebecca was worried for a split second that she might have said a very wrong thing.

"So what? It's not like I'm doing anything about it," He responded rather calmly in contrast to how he appeared.

"But that's just it! You're not doing anything, and she's not stopping!" Rebecca exclaimed quite emotionally. Draco's hard face softened quickly, completely catching Rebecca off guard as he came and stood very close to her. She couldn't move.

"No, you don't understand..." He almost whispered, sounding very much at peace. "What I mean by I'm not doing anything is I'm not doing anything to get close to her. I don't want to, and she knows it. And hates it." Draco said and looked away from Rebecca's face and towards her shoulder instead, sighing in what could have been nothing else but exhaustion. "Didn't you hear her just before? We're not fooling her. She knows."

"Then why is she trying to get so close to you?" Rebecca asked, sounding calm, though she was a mess on the inside.

"I'm not sure... it's complicated. She's more or less an ex of mine and we've always been friends. But as of late, not so much." Draco looked to her face once again. "With everything between you and I in the past week, I think she believed it at first and jumped at the chance to be better friends again. I suppose I led her on a bit without realising, but," Rebecca drew in a deep breath and shifted uncomfortably. Draco noticed and seemed to follow suit.

"But everything looked like how it used to be, and with Pansy and I being friends, we were actually fooling Slytherin. Blaise told me this." He explained. As Rebecca processed the complicated scheme he continued. "It hasn't exactly been how it always was because, well, I've been pretty reluctant. She just figured it all out. She knows we're faking, but for now, Slytherin doesn't. That's all her significance, happy?" Draco finished, looking rather frustrated. As pleased as Rebecca was with his confessions and the thought that Slytherin was backing off, she still felt outrageously angry.

"How would you feel if I strung Harry along just for the sake of tricking Gryffindor?" Rebecca asked smartly. Draco's face changed again to hard hostility as he leaned away. He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to.

"Yeah, I thought so." Rebecca concluded regretfully, making it obvious that Draco was hurting her. This took him by great surprise. He had never really thought about anybody else before, and the time had finally come where he had to begin considering someone else.

"Look, I didn't mean to do what I did. But it worked for the most part, didn't it? And just for the record, Pansy knows she's been used, and she's hurt." Draco added quickly. Finally, Rebecca felt bad. Like she had been the one in the wrong. She just wanted to give up on this historical feud and do what made her happy. She sighed shamefully, resting her head on the back of the door.

"You're jealous, aren't you?" Draco said softly. Rebecca tilted her head forward to see him, expecting him to be smirking like his cocky self as she tried to come up with a witty remark. Instead, Rebecca was quite surprised to see him looking at her very plainly awaiting her response with an absolute genuine expression, causing her to hesitate. He had caught her off guard and this completely annoyed her.

"Jealous; really?" She asked, sarcasm dripping from her words. Draco shifted his weight.

"Of course I've been bloody jealous!" Rebecca shouted. Draco didn't even try to be angry anymore.

"But that's a good sign, isn't it?" Rebecca asked, her tone quietening down considerably. She watched Draco's face screw up and his mouth twist as though he couldn't choose what to say.

"If you like me then why don't you just say?" He finally asked, appearing annoyed again.

"Do you really think I would hang around for so long and go through all this crap, not only in the past week but all year, if I didn't _like_ you?" Rebecca asked as though he was the most clueless idiot in Hogwarts. Draco gaped slightly, trying to grasp on what she was trying to ell him. "I could ask you the same question." Rebecca quickly added.

Draco closed his mouth as his expression changed from disbelief to something Rebecca wasn't so sure she had seen before. He composed himself with a straight face and stepped closer to Rebecca again, backing her even closer to the door; if that was even possible.

"Would you believe me if..." He spoke softly in something close to a whisper. "If I said ... I think I've fallen in love with you?" Rebecca felt her breath hitch and her chest tighten. Nothing felt right after the past week, especially now that she felt right at peace. That's all she needed to hear him say all along. She could have stood there and cried.

"I was starting to believe it anyway." Rebecca near whispered. They stared at each other, shocked at where their argument had taken them. Draco looked scared.

"I fell hard for you, Malfoy." Rebecca said carefully, noticing that his lower lip was trembling slightly as he swallowed. It was apparent that Draco had needed to hear, in essence, the same thing in return. He had been beginning to feel isolated and pressured, and he just needed someone that he could go to happily and forget for a little while. Neither of them made a move to say anything. It was simply black and white for the fact that they were both scared and neither of them knew what to do.

Right at that moment their options were limited to either staring or crying. Unfortunately Rebecca went for the latter. Her contrasting emotions were similar to a common game of tennis, and she was sick and tired of it and wanted to give up completely. She had had enough.

Rebecca choked on her breath as her eyes automatically welled up. Her body wanted to bawl, and she tried so hard not to which ended up with her awkwardly wiping away at her eyes. Draco had resorted to staring, though his eyes glazed over. They missed each other.

Rebecca finally stepped away from the door and pushed past Draco, rushing to resume detention. Knowing he could no longer see her face, a couple of tears unwillingly spilled over as she busily started rearranging a shelf she had arranged the day before. She could sense Draco's eyes watching her shaking form as she resisted the urge to glimpse at him.

As Rebecca was already struggling to control her teary state she couldn't stop her hands from trembling, knocking things on the shelf violently. Suddenly Draco's hand appeared on her waist. Rebecca stopped what she was doing and turned to face him. His hand slowly slid off her waist and she noticed the trails on his cheeks his tears had left behind which he had hastily wiped away while she wasn't looking. His openly emotional appearance left Rebecca simply dumbfounded as her trembling hands resided, and she was clueless as to what to do.

Seeing Draco crying, so weak after the strong, independent boy he'd been all these years actually scared Rebecca a lot. She wasn't positive his reasons were the same as hers, which further worried her that there was a lot more to it than what she thought. But she was in no place to ask.

Draco was a strong, emotionless person who never gave a second thought for caring about anyone else more than himself.

But that's just it. _Was. _Somehow he had changed for the better, but it was so unnatural after all this time.

"What do we do?" Rebecca sniffed, her unwelcomed tears residing as she started thinking again.

"Do what you want." Draco murmured in a croaky voice, never breaking eye contact. His still, icy eyes were completely lost in Rebecca's.

"We can't make something that we can't maintain. We shouldn't." Rebecca tried to reason, implying that it was difficult for them to be together, even though she wanted to be with him badly.

"Who says we can't maintain?" He asked hoarsely, still as ever.

"Nobody's said it, but it's just... Slytherin and Gryffindor. It's how it is, we can't change that. We contradict." Rebecca babbled.

"Life itself is a contradiction. We live to die and die to live." He muttered wisely, finally moving as he very slightly shrugged. It was awfully quiet as they silently reasoned. Then, Rebecca wanted to forget everything and escape; leave all these problems of running around behind their friends' backs and lying to their faces, of not being accepted, of not living up to house morals. There was nothing more that she wanted than to give up. There was only one way she knew how to do exactly that. She wasn't sure she wanted that either, but it was just so easy.

"It's not making any sense. Why are we bothering? We're hardly official. Why are we still here? Doing this right from the start? For the sake of _everyone_, we should just give up. Stop this... fooling around." She eventually spoke, as for the first time she actually considered stopping... seeing Draco, if that's what you could even call it.

"Yeah, maybe we should because it's the easy way out. Just give up on everything we are just so everyone else can sleep a little easier at night." He spoke calmly, but he was without a doubt crushing with the thought.

Coldness washed over Rebecca at the prospect, giving her goose bumps as she nervously stared at Draco in shock. The feeling was awful. Her heart was pounding so hard it almost hurt, and her stomach was full of nerve wracking butterflies. She felt sick.

"Why should I let you go? After everything? After _everything_ that's happened this year? I actually got to know a beautiful person. I haven't come across many of those in my lifetime. And after today, I mean... it's not every day I'm emotionally drained because I fess my rising feelings for that beautiful person. Not just a pretty girl, a beautiful person." Draco fought, and Rebecca's heart pounded faster and she felt as though one by one she was losing her senses. She couldn't feel, or see or hear anything else. Draco was not about to give up on the girl he loved, who loved him, just because it was against the rules. Draco Malfoy was a rule breaker.

"You know, I remember the day I was sorted into Slytherin. And then I saw a little girl with the biggest, bluest most innocent eyes get sorted into Gryffindor. That's what stopped us. Stupid house expectations, growing reputations and... Our friends. Leading up to this year I never completely forgot about you. I was a prick, alright? I still bloody am. And I regret everything I've done that stopped me from getting to know you earlier. I _really _do_._" Draco choked, and Rebecca noticed his hands lightly shaking. She was frozen because she honestly didn't know how to react to him.

"For the sake of us, forget about everyone else, and don't take the easy way out. Do what you want. For me at least, it's almost impossible for me to ignore the things I want forever. Especially the things I _need_. But if that's what you want, then by all means... you could at least give me _one_ good reason why." He breathed heavily, under the impression that she wanted to leave him. He was hurting now. He _needed_ her, to keep him grounded, to keep him sane, and hopefully to keep him happy in the hard time he was having.

Rebecca could tell he was struggling to hold himself back from literally breaking down. She had never seen a boy so shaken. Her own breathing was shaky with the weight of his world on her shoulders. Rebecca had never experienced this pressure before, she never expected it. She was scared to move, fearing anything she said could be the wrong answer.

"I-I... don't..." She managed almost incomprehensible, as though she had lost her ability to speak. Draco's words weakened her own.

"This is one of our only problems. We talk too much. We shouldn't even think about it, just do, and deal with the consequences later. We'd have it all." Draco managed, hardly able to take any more. Just like Rebecca. She felt so weak she wasn't even able to think of a wondrous, devoted answer. All she could think of, all she could manage... all that would suffice was:

"I love you too."

Rebecca remembered the brief moment where she had tried to forget everything, forget Draco. The moment where she had almost lost herself. And Rebecca was so glad Draco argued the possibility... because if he hadn't, she would become some unrecognisable, woeful being.

Before Rebecca could think anymore, and before Draco had the chance to become any more overwhelmed, he held her close and kissed her. At this point there was no pain, there was no worry or hesitation. All there was were Rebecca and the boy turned sweet whom she loved. He kissed her simply and for what felt like a long time before pulling away. He was still close enough that she could feel his shaky breath.

They were outnumbered, and they had almost been cornered. It would be hard to fight when it wasn't fair. As Rebecca and Draco paused, staring, there was something in his eyes saying they could beat this. This love was proving difficult, but it was very real. They were holding on for the long run even though it wasn't going to be easy. It hadn't been easy. But they both knew that since they first kissed, the rain falling down on them hard.

"I'll hold on to what we've got." Rebecca just whispered, Draco's eyes flicking back and forth between hers frantically. "It doesn't really make a difference if we make it or not in the end. Let's just live in the moment." Rebecca said, finally leaning in to kiss him again. Draco kissed back eagerly, his soft lips caressing hers as though it was their last day on earth. They moved backwards into the cold stone wall, bumping the shelf causing an ornament to fall and smash loudly on the hard floor. The sudden sound naturally caused them to stop, and Rebecca looked to see what had fallen.

"Leave it." Draco murmured as he hardly looked away. Rebecca didn't have the strength to investigate as he began to kiss her neck pleasurably. They moved from the wall once his lips found hers again, not stopping until he backed into a classroom table. They began to kiss more passionately, Rebecca's hands becoming entangled in his blonde hair as he held her close, his wide hands encircling her. Rebecca felt him relax, but only for a split second as the old rickety table collapsed under their weight. It was one they hadn't fixed yet.

Startled, they broke apart again. Draco quickly turned to see the broken table, one of his arms still wrapped around Rebecca.

"You're fixing that." She said quietly. They turned to look at each other, and Draco half smiled as though he didn't know whether to laugh at her irritating humour or continue kissing her.

"Even inanimate objects find us destructing." Rebecca added cruelly.

"I don't care." Draco reinforced. Rebecca smiled at him again and wrapped her arms around his torso, hugging him tightly as he in turn held her as close as humanly possible and rested his head on top of hers. For the first time they were positive that their unspoken love was mutual.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: As of 19/1/2012 every chapter up to chapter 23 has been replaced with rewritten material. I strongly recommend that you go back to the beginning as I feel I have GREATLY improved this story, and I have also changed it from first person to third person. Please do, if you are not new to this story and haven't done so already because it will HUGELY benefit you as a reader from this chapter onwards. Thank you!**

* * *

Rebecca and Draco left their detention much earlier than usual, not having achieved much in order to restore the room that afternoon. They felt both relieved, now that they had their cards laid on the table, but also terribly drained because of how much effort it had taken. They both slept peacefully that night.

Thursday whizzed by, and instead of returning to the broken down classroom, Rebecca and Draco visited the dungeons to finish their potion that was due the next day; Felix Felicis. The pair sat at a table opposite each other, the golden solution with particles diving in and out of it sitting between them. It appeared to be as perfect as their last concoction.

"Oh no... Oh, Merlin!" Draco muttered as he rapidly began flicking through his potions textbook.

"What?" Rebecca asked, looking through the splashing potion to see him. Draco looked up from his book to see her, his face fallen.

"We've forgotten the Sopophorous Bean." He said. Rebecca's face suddenly dropped to match Draco's.

"What? Are you sure?" She asked, panicking.

"Yes," Draco said, browsing the instructions in his book frantically. "It was meant to be one of the last ingredients." He said.

"D-do you think we can still add it?" Rebecca asked. Draco hesitated and continued flipping pages. Rebecca got up to find the missing Sopophorous Bean without waiting for an answer. She managed to find a jar full of them in a storage cupboard almost immediately. She then picked up her own copy of _Advanced Potion Making _and hastily read the instructions for Felix Felicis.

She picked up a silver knife and struggling, managed to cut up the Sopophorous Bean as was instructed. She scooped it all up and held it over the golden potion.

"Wait!" Draco cried, looking up to stop Rebecca. But it was too late. She had already dropped the finely cut Sopophorous Bean into the solution without spilling a drop. Draco froze, staring wide eyed at the potion as it stopped splashing and turned from gold to a pearly pink colour instead. Rebecca covered her mouth in horror as she feared she may have further ruined their work.

Suddenly, the pink potion steamed and gradually changed back into the previous golden colour. Rebecca sighed in relief as Draco regained his mobility. He stared at her as the potion resumed splashing.

"You're just lucky we're not allowed to test this one." Draco said quietly and Rebecca smiled at him apologetically.

The reason Professor Slughorn had forbidden testing Felix Felicis was in case the students had brewed it wrong as the side effects of an incorrect Felix Felicis potion could be disastrous.

Rebecca bottled a sample of their finished potion as Draco added Rebecca's last action to the method in their report. It was Draco's turn to look after both parts of their assignment to hand in the next day.

* * *

Potions was the first lesson on Friday morning. Before any samples and reports of Felix Felicis were handed over, Slughorn handed back reports on the students' last potion: Amortentia. Rebecca and Draco silently read theirs together.

Slughorn had said their potion was made to near perfection, as was their report. However the results they had received from testing it on Rebecca were quite odd, perhaps because of her head injury she had at the time. Slughorn advised them that they should have taken that into account and tested it on Draco instead for better results, and perhaps a better mark. Slughorn was still very pleased, nonetheless.

"I told you so!" Rebecca kicked Draco under the table a little annoyed, remembering how neither of them had wanted to be tested on, and then she had given in. Draco glanced at her, also annoyed, because he knew she was right.

Not a moment later Slughorn had begun calling out the names of partners to hand in their assignment. It was a little different today. Slughorn was testing each Felix Felicis sample in front of the pair who had handed them in so they could observe the quality of their potion as they hadn't been able to test them themselves.

One by one they were tested, some being close to perfect, others being far from it. Finally, Rebecca and Draco were called up. They stood up together this time as the class, uninterested, talked among themselves. Slughorn greeted them, piling their report with the rest (which Slughorn would return later on) and tipped Rebecca and Draco's Felix Felicis sample into a small tarnished cauldron.

Slughorn, holding a small and fluffy white feather between the tips of his fingers, informed the pair that if it would float it would mean their concoction was perfect.

Slughorn gently dropped the feather into the golden solution. "My, the perfect colour-"

Without warning there was an almighty bang that overtook all the other noise in the classroom as the white feather fizzled on Slughorn's desk. There was not a drop of golden Felix Felicis visible in the cauldron, or anywhere else. The class that had screamed in surprise had immediately silenced, all eyes turned to the front of the room. Slughorn looked just as stunned as everybody else.

"I'm terribly afraid to inform you, but... that was by far the worst Felix Felicis sample I have _ever _tested." Slughorn said warily for the whole class to hear. Draco was immediately humiliated whilst Rebecca was mildly embarrassed. Draco was usually a top Potions student, and Rebecca felt to be at fault for their dismal attempt.

Slughorn ushered them back to their seats as he disposed of the now pearly pink feather.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have added the Sopophorous Bean-" Rebecca began to apologise guiltily.

"No." Draco cut her off. "It's alright. I should have added it to begin with; I should have been paying more attention." He forgave Rebecca surprisingly quickly rather than dwelling on it as they resumed their seats. Rebecca could tell he was unhappy, but wisely decided not to push him. They remained silent as they observed the final students have their potion tested; Harry Potter and Seamus Finnigan, though Seamus was absent.

"That's two in a row, my dear boy!" Slughorn bellowed excitedly as the class turned their full attention to the front again. "Absolute perfection! I'll say, you've inherited your mother's talent for potions." Slughorn babbled. Rebecca glanced to Hermione as she was _always_ the person to perfect Potions. She stared at Slughorn and Harry, looking terribly unconvinced.

"Here, keep some as a reward for yourself." Slughorn praised Harry and rebottled his sample, returning it to him with pride. The class appeared bewildered with Harry's sudden talent for Potions.

Slughorn then instructed the class to return to their usual seats. Rebecca got up and left Draco to join Harry, Ron and Hermione. They were already deep in conversation.

"And this is another party just for Slughorn's favourites, is it?" Ron asked angrily.

"Just for the Slug Club, yes." Hermione corrected. Ever since the beginning of the year Professor Slughorn had been holding parties with just a few selected students. Hermione had been invited to every one of them, as had Harry. Ron never had, which left him feeling left out and even jealous. Rebecca never paid much attention; she had plenty of other things on her mind.  
"He's going to have a Christmas party. There's no way you can wriggle out of this one, Harry, because he's asked me to check your free evenings so he can have it on a night you'll be sure to come." Hermione told Harry, Ron and Rebecca listening. Harry had missed a few of Slughorn's parties because he was always meeting with Professor Dumbledore. Rebecca had no idea why, however.

"We're allowed to bring guests," Hermione continued as though Rebecca wasn't there. "I was going to ask _you_, but if you think that's stupid then I won't bother!" Hermione mildly shouted at Ron, turning bright red.

"You were going to take me?" Ron asked.

"Yes, but obviously you'd rather I got off with Cormac McLaggen..." Hermione answered. Cormac McLaggen was a Gryffindor who had attended all of Slughorn's parties. Slughorn was befuddled with him because he's 'so well-connected' as Hermione had once said. Hermione had also told Rebecca once that she thought Cormac appeared to be quite interested in her.

"No, I wouldn't." Ron said in a very quiet voice. Harry and Rebecca glanced at each other, the same thoughts going through their minds. They both had an inkling that this might happen eventually. And both of them would have rather not been sitting there as the awkwardness engulfed them.

Potions soon ended, and the rest of the day did too.

* * *

It was Saturday morning and Rebecca woke up to find the grounds set in the greatest frost she had ever seen. The ground was cold and hard, dew held on to the trees and the sun rising into a perfectly clear day made everything glitter beautifully. The Gryffindor quidditch team were scheduled to play Slytherin today.

Ron had been as nervous as anything after their defeat. He was convinced he was a no good keeper who had let the team down, when in fact, Ron was a mighty fine player and all he needed was some confidence.

Rebecca walked into the Great Hall for breakfast and the Slytherins hissed and booed upon her arrival dauntingly. She quickly joined the Gryffindor table where she was much more welcome.

"Don't worry, they've been doing that to every player this morning." George said as himself and Fred walked past her to leave. She smiled at them and turned back around to find Hermione scolding Harry for putting something in Ron's drink. As Harry stowed the bottle away, Rebecca, Ron and Hermione all quickly recognised it to be the Felix Felicis Slughorn had awarded him. Ron didn't hesitate in sculling his drink. Rebecca was shocked as Hermione continued to lash out at Harry. Felix Felicis was illegal to use in any organised competition.

Ron, who had suddenly gained a lot of confidence, triumphantly stood up to leave for the quidditch pitch. As he did, Harry pulled out the small bottle, revealing only to Rebecca and Hermione that he hadn't given any to Ron as it was still full.

Rebecca and Harry then quickly left after Ron to meet the rest of the team in the change rooms.

"Perfect weather conditions, isn't it?" Fred said as soon as they had entered.

"And even better-that Slytherin Chaser, Vaisey, he took a bludger to the head yesterday during practice, and he's too sore to play!" George informed the team.

"And even better than that- Malfoy's gone off sick too!" Fred added. Rebecca stalled momentarily as she was pulling on her boots, and hoped no one had noticed. Harry suddenly whirled around to see the twins.

"_What?_" Harry said. "He's ill? What's wrong with him?"

"No idea." The twins said together.

"It's good for us though, they're playing Harper instead. He's in my year, and he's an idiot." Demelza pitched in. Rebecca's eyes darted back and forth between her teammates as they spoke.

"Funny, isn't it?" Harry said beside her loudly, though he was talking to Ron. "Malfoy not playing?" Harry was making sure Rebecca could hear him.

"Lucky, I reckon." Ron said, much more lively. "And Vaisey; he's their best goal-scorer." Ron said oblivious to Harry's hints. Harry suddenly turned to Rebecca.

"Do you know anything?" He whispered, leaning in close. Rebecca, startled, could only bring herself to shake her head.

About five minutes later the Gryffindor team marched out onto the field, the stadium both cheering and booing from seas of colours; one end was red and gold, the other green and silver. Even though it was a perfectly clear and sunny day, the ground was frozen and made crunching noises as they walked, and the air was crisp and very chilly, steam rising from people's mouths as they spoke.

They met Madam Hooch and the slightly disjointed Slytherin team at the centre.

"Captains shake hands." Madam Hooch ordered and Harry and Urquhart, the Slytherin captain, shook hands roughly.

Rebecca couldn't help but think that this would be the point where she would find Draco's eyes and he would do something so typical of him which would initiate their silent communication. She couldn't think of where he might be. She recalled one time when Draco had been unable to play because of an injury, but even then he made sure the match was rescheduled for him. The worry had finally hit Rebecca, replacing her curiosity.

"Mount your brooms. On my whistle... three... two... one...!" Madam Hooch blew her whistle and released the balls into the air as all players kicked off the icy ground.

Almost immediately Slytherin's Urquhart had attempted to score a goal. Most players stalled to watch Ron. She knew that Ron still believed he had drunk liquid luck. Without a doubt, Ron had blocked the goal.

A little more than half an hour had passed and Gryffindor were in the lead, sixty to zero, much to Slytherin house's horror. Ron had made some spectacular saves, his confidence becoming a lot more obvious. Rebecca herself had scored three of Gryffindors six goals. Harry appeared tremendously happy with her efforts as last time she was harshly knocked out of the game.

Rebecca, despite her good playing, couldn't help but gaze around the stands as she flew around the pitch in hope of spotting Draco. She was sure if he was sick he wouldn't be there, but she kept on looking. She managed to spot Vaisey in the crowd, blending in well as he was dressed in green and silver. Rebecca knew that if Draco was there, she definitely would have seen him by now.

Rebecca was flying down the pitch again with Demelza and Dean. As she passed the quaffle once more, she saw Harper, who was replacing Draco, barge harshly into Harry quite deliberately, nearly knocking him off his broom. Gryffindor began to cry out in anger, but as Madam Hooch was turned away, Harper had already sped off before she could turn around. Harry then raced after him.

The daft commentator announced that the two were racing for the snitch, Harper clearly in front. Rebecca, Demelza and Dean had scored one hundred points by now, Slytherin still on zero.

Harper stretched out his hand, ready to catch the snitch, but faltered and fumbled for it before shooting straight past it. Harry quickly swiped for the golden fluttering ball and caught it.

He returned to the ground as Madam Hooch blew her whistle to signal the end of the game. The rest of the Gryffindor team flew in after him as the Gryffindor crowd erupted into roaring applause and glorious shouting. Gryffindor had smashed Slytherin two hundred and fifty points to zero.

The Gryffindor team jumped around on the ground, hugging each other excitedly as the Slytherin team disappeared very quickly.

"Party up in the common room, Seamus said!" Dean shouted over the noise as the team entered the change rooms. Dean had proved to be a very worthy player.

Rebecca got changed and left with Demelza just as Harry revealed to Ron that he had had no Felix Felicis before the game. Ron gaped, astounded. He turned to Hermione, who had joined them, instantly quarrelling with her. This had been happening a lot lately.

Rebecca and Demelza gradually made their way to Gryffindor Tower, recounting the game as they walked. As soon as they entered the common room they were immediately greeted with loud cheering for their victorious win and separated by people asking about the game in detail. The party was in full swing.

Rebecca was not used to being mobbed and asked so many questions at once. She was nearly finding it hard to breathe, let alone answer the questions. She wondered if this was what it was like to be famous. It was quite noticeable when Harry had arrived. The applaud had erupted again as the crowd shifted to him, much to Rebecca's relief. She was able to enjoy the party a lot easier after that, floating around and talking to whoever she pleased.

The entire time, however, Rebecca's mind never strayed far from the thought of Draco. She was nearly making up her mind about leaving the party and wondering around the empty corridors in the hope she would run into him like she always seemed to.

Suddenly, her thoughts were very abruptly disrupted as more loud cheering filled the warm room, this time accompanied by wolf whistles. Rebecca managed to get a glimpse of Ron Weasley passionately kissing Lavender Brown through the crowd, much to her surprise. She had heard no word of Lavender and Ron, ever. Still, she couldn't help but smile, laugh and cheer with everyone else and feel happy for her friend.

It was Ron's 'lucky' day.

* * *

By Sunday morning it was apparent that Ron and Hermione weren't speaking, and Harry was struggling with it. Rebecca didn't know what happened, but she was wise enough to avoid talking to any of them about it to prevent herself from getting involved. She wasn't going to let her curiosity get the better of her just yet while everything was so tense.

Rebecca had also peered out her dormitory window that morning to see that it had snowed overnight. Everything was finely coated in white and glistened brightly in the sun. Despite all the down lifting drama, the snow made Rebecca very cheery. She had always admired it, and it nearly seemed to bring out her inner child.

As Rebecca made her way to breakfast with Parvati they quickly noticed the Christmassy theme overtaking the castle. There were garlands of holly and tinsel wrapped around the banisters of the stairs, ever-lasting icicles, enchanted candles glowing from the insides of suits of armour, and mistletoe had begun sprouting at every interval in the corridors.

Rebecca and Parvati entered the Great Hall to see the twelve usual towering Christmas trees, every one of them decorated differently; some with sparkly baubles, some with colourful tinsel, some with everlasting bubbles and some with enchanted candles. The ceiling was enchanted to let warm snow fall and disappear into thin air just above everyone's heads and the feel of Christmas cheer was freshly present in the student body. Christmas was Rebecca's favourite time of year.

As they walked to their favoured seat at the Gryffindor table, Rebecca naturally checked for Draco at the Slytherin table. Sure enough, there he was seated amongst his usual crowd. Rebecca had a good look at him, all the possibilities of the day before running through her head before she noticed that he looked as though he actually _had _been sick. All the possibilities of his whereabouts were quickly excused. He looked paler and dull. He also looked tired, his eyes dark in contrast.

Rebecca was snapped from her thoughts as she sat down next to Parvati. There was just one more week left of school, and then it would be the Christmas holidays. The excitement was much more apparent now that everything finally looked like Christmas.

Professor McGonagall was wandering up the Gryffindor table with a long piece of parchment and a quill as owls suddenly filled the Great Hall with much more mail than usual. It wasn't long before Lucy, Rebecca's mother's owl, landed on the table in front of her like a small explosion, soft grey feathers filling Rebecca's view. Parvati laughed at her while the feathers subsided. Rebecca saw Lucy, who was a very small grey owl, anchored to the table by a letter and a thick book. She looked exhausted. Rebecca quickly detached the load from her tiny ankles, much to Lucy's relief.

Lucy was quite small for a Scops Owl. She was very young and freshly trained, which meant she was still very fluffy, and a little unreliable. She was an owl with a lot of personality. She was always very excited to deliver mail and she was very loyal. The unreliability came because she enjoyed showing off and thoroughly enjoyed exploring. Rebecca was very fond of Lucy.

Rebecca greeted her kindly and allowed her a bit of crunchy toast. She recognised her mother's handwriting on the envelope and excitedly ripped it open, having not heard from her for a while. Parvati had set her own mail aside and had begun to entertain Lucy, who was enjoying the newfound attention.

_Dear Rebecca,_

_I hope you have enjoyed your term and have gone well in all aspects. I trust you are well? Everyone is well back home, missing you lots!_

_Nothing out of the ordinary has happened that's worthy of reporting. Your father is still a busy man, working long hours. He is happy though, it's what he does best._

_I ordered a new array of flowers for the shop yesterday. Plenty of new ones to brighten up the place and refresh our stock. I chose some Fairy Foxgloves because they made me think of you. You would love them._

_I hope you noticed that Lucy has improved? I have spent a lot of time in training her the last month. She is tricky. She would much rather show off what she thinks she can do instead of perfecting the things she needs to do. I bet she's enjoying seeing you._

_Your father and I are going to visit his parents for Christmas. As you know, they are travelling, so we'll be spending Christmas in Italy this year. Unfortunately we will have to be gone before we are able to pick you up from the train station. You will have to spend the Christmas holidays at school. Sorry, darling. I hope that's alright. I promise I will take you back to Italy another time. Lucy will also have to stay with you. Look after her._

_Enjoy the holidays, dear. I'm perfectly sure you deserve them._

_You can send Lucy back after the New Year. I'll expect to hear from you then._

_Much love, Mum._

Rebecca, suddenly not as cheery anymore, folded her letter back up and stowed it inside a textbook she had with her for safe keeping.

_Fairy Foxgloves..._ Rebecca thought, wondering what they might look like. She then noticed the book that Lucy had delivered. It was called _British Wild Flowers _by Judy Wood. Rebecca quickly found the page about Fairy Foxgloves. They were beautiful pearly pink wildflowers. Her mother was right, she would love them.

A small note was attached to the book. It read: _Some interesting reading to keep you going through the holidays. Mum. _

Rebecca scrunched up her nose. It was a muggle book about muggle flowers. Rebecca's mother was a florist, and Rebecca had always helped in her shop before she left for Hogwarts. It wasn't because she was interested in flowers. It was because she loved flowers and how beautiful they were and the way they made the shop smell wonderful. Rebecca put the flower book away with her textbook.

Professor McGonagall then appeared behind Rebecca and Parvati.

"Good morning, girls." She said to get their attention. "Will either of you be staying for the holidays?"

"No," Parvati said, turning back to Lucy.

"Uh, yes." Rebecca said.

"That's unusual for you, Miss Whyte." McGonagall said, surprised as she wrote Rebecca's name down on the short list of Gryffindors who were staying for Christmas. Professor McGonagall was right though. Rebecca always went home for Christmas. She had only stayed once before; in her fourth year when Hogwarts held the Triwizard Tournament and the Yule Ball on Christmas day. Most of the school had stayed that year.

"Yes, my parents will be visiting my travelling grandparents in Italy over Christmas." Rebecca explained.  
"I see. That's no matter. We'll all be glad to have you join us. What on earth is that bird _doing?_" McGonagall asked, startled as she looked past Rebecca. Rebecca turned around to see Lucy with her wings spread out and walking in a circle as Parvati and many others laughed openly at the attention seeking owl.

"She's um... She's going to be staying here over the holidays too." Rebecca said, quickly distracting Lucy with cornflakes.

"Right. Well I suggest you show her to the Owlery before she gets too comfortable." McGonagall advised.

"Okay," Rebecca replied just as Lucy tipped over a glass of pumpkin juice.

"And by that I mean right away." McGonagall quickly added, even more startled than before. McGonagall oversaw Rebecca as she collected her few books and persuaded Lucy to perch on her fingers before leaving the Great Hall hurriedly, the Gryffindors still laughing at Lucy, and Rebecca feeling her cheeks turn pink.


	25. Chapter 25

Rebecca hurriedly left the Great Hall with Lucy perched on her fingers hooting excitedly. As Rebecca walked further away from the Hall with the chatter and laughter fading, Lucy realised they were going away. The attention loving bird quickly flapped her wings and took flight in an attempt to return to the rest of the students.

"Hey!" Rebecca cried as she snatched the small owl out of midair. She hooted in confusion. Rebecca decided to keep a firm grip on her until they reached the Owlery as Lucy was small enough to fit comfortably into Rebecca's hands.

"You're a cheeky bird, aren't you?" Rebecca said. Lucy looked up to her with her big orb-like eyes. "Do you even understand what I'm saying?" Rebecca asked curiously. Lucy nipped one of her fingers affectionately, appearing to answer 'yes', and continued to look at Rebecca quite innocently.

"I'll bet Mum has a lot of fun training you, hey? I can only imagine how quickly she'd lose her temper. Lots of shiny things to distract you." Rebecca imagined her mother teaching the young owl. Lucy hooted disapprovingly.

"Sorry." Rebecca quickly said, wondering if Lucy had taken offence. "You'll be on holidays too now, until I have to send you back home. No training- sounds good, doesn't it?" Rebecca said cheerily. Lucy then hooted excitedly as though she was glad to have a break and be away from home for a little while.

"I'm glad it's nearly holidays. I just wish I could go somewhere else for a little while. What I'd give just to go home. I need a proper break; it's been a crazy term." Rebecca told Lucy vaguely who just kept watching Rebecca as she spoke.

"Nearly everyone's going and I have to stay here. I've never stayed behind without everyone else before. Can you just imagine; Italy!" Rebecca sighed, dreading staying at Hogwarts without her family for Christmas. Not even her close friends. Lucy hooted softly, comforting Rebecca.

"Oh well. You won't be far away. Only in the Owlery making new friends." Rebecca began as she walked past a suit of armour that had an enchanted candle glowing inside its helmet. No sooner had she passed it, a loud clanking noise was heard. Rebecca jumped fiercely and Lucy screeched in surprise.

Rebecca spun around to see the suit of armour which had moved to adjust its position. Rebecca eyed it carefully, her heart rate increasing.

Suddenly, the suit of armour began reciting Christmas carols as a handful of small glowing lights shot out of it. Rebecca froze, feeling very uncertain, as Lucy's wide eyes widened even further in disbelief. It was safe to say that neither of them had witnessed a singing suit of armour before.

The small glowing lights, which Rebecca had originally thought were sparks being shot out from the enchanted candle, slowly returned to bob about the suit's glowing helmet. Rebecca narrowed her eyes, entranced by the tiny floating lights as jolly carols echoed around the largely empty corridor. She had never seen them before.

Rebecca held Lucy in just one of her hands and bravely reached out her empty one. She gently raised it until one of the glowing lights had rested on it. She was surprised to feel a little warmth being emitted from the small glow. She carefully retreated her hand to get a very close look at the glowing light.

As she looked very hard she was finally able to make out what she thought was a very pretty tiny human body with tiny transparent wings. The beautiful creature appeared to be looking right back at Rebecca, smiling as though this happened all the time. The tiny person stroked Rebecca's hand, although she could hardly feel it, and she thought she heard a very faint giggle. Lucy suddenly hooted, breaking Rebecca's trance-like state. Rebecca looked to Lucy and then back to the small glow rested on her hand.

"Fairies?" Rebecca asked Lucy. Then another several lights slowly floated down to accompany the lonely one on her hand. Rebecca concentrated her sight again as she watched them. The lot of them stood together in the centre of Rebecca's palm, her hand glowing with them.

The group of small glows emitted a burst of silver sparkling dust above them which transformed from a small cloud into a faint sparkling word: fairies. Rebecca heard slightly louder, though still very faint laughter come from the fairies. She smiled at them, having never seen a fairy in her life, and was now holding a handful of them.

Suddenly the Christmas carols ceased with a loud _clank _and all the fairies rose from Rebecca's hand together, although she couldn't feel the difference. Lucy hooted and managed to wriggle out of Rebecca's closed hand and landed on her shoulder. She gently tugged her clothes in an attempt to turn her around. Rebecca reluctantly turned her head and jumped sharply as she saw Draco standing a few feet away with his hands in his pockets.

"How long have you been there?" Rebecca asked.

"Not long." Draco replied quietly, thought he lied. He had been following Rebecca since she left the Great Hall, hearing everything she had said to Lucy and seeing everything she had done. He had thought it was very strange that she was talking to a small silly owl, until he realised the bird was listening and communicating with her. This lead Draco to believe he was right in that Rebecca had a very quiet and calm nature to some degree that she treated animals just as nicely as she treated people. This came across Draco as quite foreign.

Then he himself had jumped when the charmed suit of armour had begun to sing loudly. Draco had watched Rebecca act so gently and thoughtfully towards the small floating lights which he had recognised to be fairies straight away. He was very surprised to see the fairies take to her as he knew for a fact that fairies always kept to themselves. It had taken him all up until Rebecca had said 'Fairies?' to realise that she hadn't come across them before. She intrigued him with the way she observed the fairies in silence, smiling at them. He was refreshed by watching her interact so curiously with something he thought was quite common.

He was also surprised when everything had halted so soon and Rebecca had spotted him so close. It dawned on him that he must have been in a mild sort of trance for him to unknowingly wander so close.

Rebecca and Draco watched as the fairies retreated back into the suit of armour.

"Haven't you seen a fairy before?" Draco asked nearly tauntingly, trying to promote conversation.

"No..." Rebecca said as the last of the fairies disappeared altogether.

"Strange," Draco muttered.

"What?" Rebecca asked, looking at Draco again.

"I've never seen someone hold a fairy before." He explained.

"I've never _seen_ a fairy before." Rebecca reinstated.

"I've never seen fairies willingly interact with someone before. Fairies never associate directly with people." Draco added. He thought the fairies interacting with Rebecca must have been a clear example of her nearly too kind nature. As he thought, he couldn't help but think why the singing had stopped, the fairies had disappeared and the small owl had become wary as soon as he had appeared.

"What are you doing with that owl?" Draco quickly disrupted his own thoughts as he looked at the small grey owl perched on Rebecca's shoulder. The owl stared at Draco with huge eyes.

"Lucy? Oh, I was taking her to the Owlery." Rebecca replied and noticed how Draco still looked a little sick.

"I'll leave you to it then." Draco said and walked back the way he had come before Rebecca had a chance to ask of his sickness. She thought it was strange that Draco had found her without anything to say. Draco was uncertain as to why he had followed her in the first place. Without himself being able to realise it, subconsciously he only wanted to make sure she was alright after the previous day's quidditch match that he hadn't attended.

Rebecca took one last glance at the silenced suit of armour before continuing towards the Owlery. Both herself and Lucy remained silent until they got there. It was a long walk from the Great Hall to the top of the West Tower.

The Owlery was a large circular room made of pale stone and the floor was thickly covered in straw and owl droppings. As the days were growing colder and colder the large open room was becoming icier. This was because the windows had no glass in them so that the owls were able to come and go as they pleased.

Lucy ruffled her feathers in an attempt to preserve her own body heat. She openly looked around the large stone room to see hundreds of owls on perches which began near the floor and rose to the very top of the high tower. She had never been here before. Rebecca, however, used to come up to the Owlery all the time to send letters home before Lucy joined the family.

"This is where you'll stay until I send you back home again." Rebecca said, offering her hand to Lucy who perched on it rather than her shoulder. "I'll visit you when I have the time." Rebecca promised and Lucy flew up the wall to perch between a plain pair of school barn owls that were at least twice her size.

Lucy hooted appreciatively as Rebecca left the cold and drafty room. She was sure Lucy would enjoy being in the company of so many owls for a change.

* * *

The weekend soon ended, and the first day of the last week before the holidays commenced did too. Rebecca and Draco met up in the broken down classroom once more, which by this point wasn't so broken down anymore. All that was left was a few chairs that needed mending and about half of the connecting storage room's objects to be sorted and cleaned.

The entire room had been cleaned and rearranged and it had taken the pair at least a week longer than they had originally thought. This was because of the limitations Snape had placed on their wands at the beginning which only took effect in that room. As they progressed they discovered that a lot of spells and charms didn't work, and instead of anything happening, their wands made a 'dud' noise. Nearly everything they had to do in order to restore the room had become manual labour. The most they could do was conjure water.

Rebecca had left Draco in the room by himself for a while as she had to go and scrounge up some more nails to mend the broken chairs. She took a little longer than expected simply because any interaction with Filch, who she had to get the nails from, was always unpleasant.

"Took your time." Draco said as Rebecca closed the classroom door again.

"Not me, Filch." Rebecca said as she sat on the ground by an upturned chair with nails sprawled beside her and a hammer in her hand.

"What did he say this time?" Draco asked, already amused as he sat at a table polishing jars in a bucket of soapy water. The both of them had returned to the classroom several times with stories of Filch because they had needed brooms, buckets and mops over the past few weeks as well.

"Just some things about students doing things manually rather than using magic. Couldn't understand most of it." Rebecca said before hammering a nail into a chair leg loudly.

"I reckon he's jealous." Draco said, trying to hide his smile.

"Jealous of us having to clean up a whole classroom?" Rebecca frowned.

"Jealous because we _can_ do magic. I bet he thinks it's great that we've hardly been able to use magic this entire time." Draco said.

"Why?" Rebecca asked absentmindedly as she hammered a second nail.

"Because he's a squib. Everybody knows that. His family is magic, but he's not." Draco reminded her as they seemed to have had this conversation countless times by now.

"Oh, right." Rebecca responded simply, standing up and turning the chair upright to test it. Draco watched in anticipation as he dried the freshly polished jars. The amount of furniture they had to mend more than once because of testing them was more than a handful, also elongating their stay.

Rebecca slowly sat down on the chair, neither Draco nor herself daring to breathe. Luckily, the chair hardly splintered and the pair unnoticeably sighed. Rebecca matched the chair with a mended desk before upturning another broken one and sitting on the ground again.

Draco carried all the jars back into the storage room and stored them appropriately. He then began to drag old objects into the better lit classroom repeatedly until all the dirty and unsorted ones were out. Rebecca looked up to see him sorting through the big mess he had just created and sighed.

"Is that the last of it?" She asked, upturning yet another chair.

"Yeap. It's about half of that room though." He answered without looking up from the huge assortment in front of him. This explained to Rebecca why there was so much of it. From where she was she could see all sorts of dusty old things ranging from textbooks to vases to crystal balls. She would help him go through it all when she finished mending all the broken chairs.

Neither of them spoke for a long time as they worked. The only noises to be heard were the hammering of nails in wood and the occasional sound of falling clutter. Amidst all the things Draco was sorting through, half of what he would call rubbish, he came across a large box with switches and dials.

He blew the dust off the top of it and pulled it out of the pile of 'rubbish' to set it on a table. What looked like a curvy golden megaphone was attached to the top of it. Next to it was a large black circle with a long stick with a needle on the end propped above it. He dusted it off properly while making sure Rebecca was still busy and looking the other way, as he was sure he knew what it was.

He returned to the pile of odd objects and rummaged through it until he found more flat, round black circles to match the large one on the top of the box. He dusted them off and tinkered with the strange looking box for a little while until it worked. He was sure Rebecca would like it.

* * *

**A/N: What do you think?**


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